Roper Beglaryan was showing his girlfriend Emmanuelle Granlen and
their buddies at a sky-restaurant meeting a holographic projector
recording of a news report on a literary critic he once spoke with
years ago, Josten Puglet, who'd been arrested the other day for
serious criminal offenses. It seems Mr. Puglet had assaulted his
wife before fleeing the scene, and threatened police officers
apprehending him with an energy rod. Now, he was standing trial for
his crimes, and his wife was not only in the process of divorcing
him, she reportedly had to file for legal protection lest he pursue
her again.
“I used to correspond with Puglet through holographic e-mail many
times 2 decades ago,” said Roper. “He always came across as such a
decent fellow then, and seemed to know a lot about literature, even
animation, from the ancient formats viewed on ordinary screens to
the more modern holographic approach to viewing them. Who would've
known he'd fall from grace and commit a sick crime like spousal
abuse years later?”
“That's the problem, Roper,” said Emmanuelle. “There's people out
there who can lose their grip on sanity, and proceed to commit
violent crimes. Remember that science writer from Tikustown I once
told you about, Rodentin Losco? He was arrested several years back
for attacking a woman he'd been quarreling with in an air-shopping
mall over a petty issue. I once corresponded with him at the time he
was a science columnist, and now, my skin is crawling in retrospect.
And you know who I really feel sorry for? The wives and children of
these felons who'll now have to bear the shame of having an abusive
husband and father who hurt them and other people, devoid of all
consideration of their actions.”
“Yeah, I see what you mean,” grumbled Roper. “Figuring out the the
mind of a mere book reviewer is no easy feat. We have to realize
that people can lose their moral compass and turn truly evil. And
those who suffer worst are their family members and victims. And we
have to do our best to learn from these terrible incidents why
they're wrong, and why we must avoid committing them ourselves.”
“You got that right,” said Emmanuelle. “Well, enough of that. Let's
just continue eating and find something less troubling to talk
about.” And they returned to their meal and changed the
conversation.
