System Message. Posting Book 8 spoilers will result in "acceleration" per our rules.
It appears the AI agrees with my decision to pull you out. We did not turn off the feed. And before you ask, that creature didn’t actually have anything of substance to tell you. He’s still talking, actually. Spouting off some long-debunked folklore about the collapse of the inner system. Nothing new. -- Orren[1]
Paulie is the preferred name of Goff, and is a human occupied by a Residual. In the months before the transformation, he lived at the Shepherd's House, a homeless shelter near Miami, Florida.[2][3]
Description
Paulie/Goff is a type of residual who claims to be "biologically" Gondii in the same way that crawlers are biologically the race they selected on the Third Floor. After Borant Corporation began conducting deep-cycle surface imaging, suggesting that at least one of the Dungeon floors would use memories, he and other Apothecary agents were tasked with reciting a half-true, largely inaccurate speech every day.[2][3] His true goal is to implant a crawler with an unspecified "upgrade."[3]
His human body is an approximately 70 year-old man named Paulie, who has Asian features, rotting yellow teeth, and trembling fingers.[4][2] He wears a bright red trapper hat and layers of flannel, stinks of dirt and body odor, and speaks with an American accent in a deep, raspy voice.[4] Before Goff, Paulie was a smoker with four estranged children and a deceitful brother-in-law who stole his business. Goff now possesses Paulie's memories.[2]
Although Paulie was outside during the transformation, he did not enter the Dungeon.[2] Apothecary agents who were "unable to enter through a generated entrance are required to self-deactivate post collapse," so Paulie most likely committed suicide and/or returned to the collective.[3]
Gear
He has a duct-taped plastic tub containing dirty clothes, a blue IKEA bag full of what appear to be sugar packets, a multitude of Valtay Neural Enhancers pills, communication device, weapon, and a Valtay Perso-Shield, Platinum Edition.[4][2][5]
Story
As the second phase of the Eighth Floor draws to a close, the Open Intellect Pacifist Action Network (OIPAN) sends Carl an Emergency Benefactor Box containing a WordArt flyer advertising 7AM Christmas breakfast at the Shepherd's House. OIPAN and its members promptly vanish.[6] When Carl arrives at the Shepherd's House, he sees three sentences spraypainted in red on the building's side, saying in Syndicate Standard:
“Look for me at breakfast every morning. I wear the red hat with the flaps. Coffee then speech.”[7]
Inside, Carl sees Paulie grab "what appeared to be a handful of sugar packets" before disappearing into the kitchens. Paulie returns with his own coffee, which he "dumped the sugar packets" into.[4] Paulie begins reciting his speech, and Carl grabs a Styrofoam coffee cup off another man's tray.[2] Paulie's speech is scripted by the Apothecary and full of inaccuracies and debunked theories, which the Apothecary hopes will protect the crawler from Liaison action. The true goal is to implant the crawler with an unspecified upgrade through unspecified means.[2][3]
Carl takes Paulie's plastic tub into his inventory, and Orren pulls Carl out of the scene while Paulie is talking, explaining that Carl must choose between forfeiting the tub or being executed. Orren explains a little about Residuals before Quasar steps in, and Carl trades Paulie's tub for a Wand Recharge Scroll, Cracker Jack Scrolls x 3, and continued use of the Sledge, Bomo, Clay-ton, and Very Sullen on the Ninth Floor.[2]
Paulie's speech is ultimately so inaccurate and disappointing that Borant Corporation allows the feed to continue to broadcast, and the System AI removes all protections it has for residuals remaining in the Dungeon.[2]
References
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 51) (p. 491). Dandy House. Kindle Edition.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 51)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Epilogue)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 50)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 52)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 49)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 50) (p. 484). Dandy House. Kindle Edition.
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