(no subject)
Dear Susannah
Attached you'll find the report you requested for Rose. Merry Christmas, indeed. This summarizes the events of the Dark Tower sequence, in line with your specifications, as well as the ongoing history of the Tet Corporation to date. She'll also be on the mailing list for the yearly report and our final post-mortem on the attempts to decipher the message from the future.
Of course I hope you know that our failure in that regard remains one of my greatest regrets in my employment. I will miss being a part of your great endeavor; but the rest, I suspect, will do me good.
I want to make one last plea--unwelcome, I'm sure--that you let me amend the report. I could do it in a few keystrokes. Everything I know of King's work tells me that progress is made only when the truth comes out, when all actors share all relevant knowledge. By holding back information about the Dark Tower and Mordred Deschain, I think you only increase your daughter's risk. Please reconsider.
Finally--based on a close reading of one of the stories in the new collection, I harbor a grim suspicion. As you know, Black Thirteen is considered officially destroyed in the ruins of the World Trade Center. I now have doubts. I find this disturbing--obviously on a real level, but also narratively. That King would invoke Sept. 11th and not have it serve some climactic role in the story, by destroying the evil artifact, is unpleasant to imagine. But my reading suggests that Black Thirteen escaped the destruction, dragging some other objects from the Towers in its wake.
This is a hotly contested interpretation among the Calvins, as you can imagine, but those I trust most agree with me.
As for what we can do about it--not much, I fear. With the analysis branch shut down, it will be harder than ever to trace any sign of a reappearance. But I fear. I fear very much that Black Thirteen's story is not over--or, more accurately, its role in the stories of others, given its role as a sort of malign deus ex machina. I beg you to keep your eyes open. If it is back, I fear we will find out.
Your respectful servant,
Michael Copeland.
***
Dear Marian,
As requested, here is the report on my understanding, meager as it may be, regarding ka in the case of Susannah and Rose Toren, and how we may anticipate its effects. It's largely speculation, as you must know. The longer analysis is attached.
I'd like you to allow me the conceit of color-coding here. The dedication of the plaque in the lobby prays for the victory of the white over the red; we also know of the black. Roland Deschain has black-dog ka; gunslinger executioners consign traitors eternally to the black.
The black and the white are opposed; this much seems natural. Gunslingers serve the White. Justice and hope and the triumph of love and possibility over death and unmaking and misery. That, then, is the province of the black. Cancer, murder, suicide and despair.
The red, as revealed in King, is more of a political organization. They serve the black, perhaps; surely they revel in its methods. They wish to use it to their advantage. The black does not care. It will consume them, too.
The white, as King is at pains to tell us, is as stark and as cruel as the black can ever be, at times. It exists only to defend; a world of only black and white would be a bitter world indeed. But while the red exists, the white must, so that those caught in the middle--call them the green, for the farmers of the Calla and The Magnificent Seven and the elusive green man of Insomnia--can survive.
Black and white, red and green. I'll introduce one more factor--that of stasis, of peace; the sense that things are going well, life is turning in its axis. The status quo, which the oncoming horror will destroy. Call that the blue, for the Meatloaf reference. Out of the blue, and into the black. I would not be shocked to learn that in the language of Gilead, blue and green were one word.
White Plains (denoting, as customary, Susannah's world) is a green place, ironically. A blue place, as well, perhaps. But out of the blue, into the black. The last year has escalated. Quickly. The red is out there, organized, moving again. The White calls the gunslingers to meet it. These factors are all working together. For now, whatever protective umbrella lay over the Torens is still there, guiding them, shielding them--the smooth cover-up of last Christmas's death is an example of that. But there are other forces at work.
You asked me, in a word, if Rose Toren's tale was beginning, and what implications it may have for us. My report is simple: I believe so, and it is almost impossible to say. Everything turns around the gunslingers, their choices and their stands, and in the end, they are only human. Sometimes terribly human.
As an aside--relevant? maybe not?--I do doubt this will be a tale of Stephen King's. It doesn't fit his modus, in many ways, and in ways alters the course and implication of his original magnum opus. Perhaps we can pray that whoever is called up to tell the young lady's story is less merciless towards his creations.
I urge you to share this report with Susannah herself. Keeping secrets rarely yields any good results within King's oeuvre. At least think about it.
Michael Copeland.
***
All right, everyone. I've been poking around in the server. Whether you're involved or not, please respect the rest of us. I don't want any record left behind in Tet on Project Renegade. Please delete all related files and emails--including, obviously, this one, and from now on let's stick to private email. We'll need to get used to it anyway.
MC
Attached you'll find the report you requested for Rose. Merry Christmas, indeed. This summarizes the events of the Dark Tower sequence, in line with your specifications, as well as the ongoing history of the Tet Corporation to date. She'll also be on the mailing list for the yearly report and our final post-mortem on the attempts to decipher the message from the future.
Of course I hope you know that our failure in that regard remains one of my greatest regrets in my employment. I will miss being a part of your great endeavor; but the rest, I suspect, will do me good.
I want to make one last plea--unwelcome, I'm sure--that you let me amend the report. I could do it in a few keystrokes. Everything I know of King's work tells me that progress is made only when the truth comes out, when all actors share all relevant knowledge. By holding back information about the Dark Tower and Mordred Deschain, I think you only increase your daughter's risk. Please reconsider.
Finally--based on a close reading of one of the stories in the new collection, I harbor a grim suspicion. As you know, Black Thirteen is considered officially destroyed in the ruins of the World Trade Center. I now have doubts. I find this disturbing--obviously on a real level, but also narratively. That King would invoke Sept. 11th and not have it serve some climactic role in the story, by destroying the evil artifact, is unpleasant to imagine. But my reading suggests that Black Thirteen escaped the destruction, dragging some other objects from the Towers in its wake.
This is a hotly contested interpretation among the Calvins, as you can imagine, but those I trust most agree with me.
As for what we can do about it--not much, I fear. With the analysis branch shut down, it will be harder than ever to trace any sign of a reappearance. But I fear. I fear very much that Black Thirteen's story is not over--or, more accurately, its role in the stories of others, given its role as a sort of malign deus ex machina. I beg you to keep your eyes open. If it is back, I fear we will find out.
Your respectful servant,
Michael Copeland.
***
Dear Marian,
As requested, here is the report on my understanding, meager as it may be, regarding ka in the case of Susannah and Rose Toren, and how we may anticipate its effects. It's largely speculation, as you must know. The longer analysis is attached.
I'd like you to allow me the conceit of color-coding here. The dedication of the plaque in the lobby prays for the victory of the white over the red; we also know of the black. Roland Deschain has black-dog ka; gunslinger executioners consign traitors eternally to the black.
The black and the white are opposed; this much seems natural. Gunslingers serve the White. Justice and hope and the triumph of love and possibility over death and unmaking and misery. That, then, is the province of the black. Cancer, murder, suicide and despair.
The red, as revealed in King, is more of a political organization. They serve the black, perhaps; surely they revel in its methods. They wish to use it to their advantage. The black does not care. It will consume them, too.
The white, as King is at pains to tell us, is as stark and as cruel as the black can ever be, at times. It exists only to defend; a world of only black and white would be a bitter world indeed. But while the red exists, the white must, so that those caught in the middle--call them the green, for the farmers of the Calla and The Magnificent Seven and the elusive green man of Insomnia--can survive.
Black and white, red and green. I'll introduce one more factor--that of stasis, of peace; the sense that things are going well, life is turning in its axis. The status quo, which the oncoming horror will destroy. Call that the blue, for the Meatloaf reference. Out of the blue, and into the black. I would not be shocked to learn that in the language of Gilead, blue and green were one word.
White Plains (denoting, as customary, Susannah's world) is a green place, ironically. A blue place, as well, perhaps. But out of the blue, into the black. The last year has escalated. Quickly. The red is out there, organized, moving again. The White calls the gunslingers to meet it. These factors are all working together. For now, whatever protective umbrella lay over the Torens is still there, guiding them, shielding them--the smooth cover-up of last Christmas's death is an example of that. But there are other forces at work.
You asked me, in a word, if Rose Toren's tale was beginning, and what implications it may have for us. My report is simple: I believe so, and it is almost impossible to say. Everything turns around the gunslingers, their choices and their stands, and in the end, they are only human. Sometimes terribly human.
As an aside--relevant? maybe not?--I do doubt this will be a tale of Stephen King's. It doesn't fit his modus, in many ways, and in ways alters the course and implication of his original magnum opus. Perhaps we can pray that whoever is called up to tell the young lady's story is less merciless towards his creations.
I urge you to share this report with Susannah herself. Keeping secrets rarely yields any good results within King's oeuvre. At least think about it.
Michael Copeland.
***
All right, everyone. I've been poking around in the server. Whether you're involved or not, please respect the rest of us. I don't want any record left behind in Tet on Project Renegade. Please delete all related files and emails--including, obviously, this one, and from now on let's stick to private email. We'll need to get used to it anyway.
MC