//------------------------------//
// Estermann Office Observation Transcript Excerpt from Sunday, November 22, 2015 
// Story: Chrysalis Visits The Hague 
// by Dan The Man 
//------------------------------//


Transcript for those unable to see the files:


ORANGE CALTROP
1594726 831038582 002823447122348385

OBSERVATION UNIT TRANSCRIPT FOR:
OFFICE 310
CASE WORKERS: SAC. ███████ ████, SA. ██████ █████████

TAPE #2 - EXTRACT
TUES - 11/22/15
9:18 - 9:49

9:18 - [A. ESTERMANN, C. MULLAN ENTER ROOM - HURRIED.]

[A. ESTERMANN CLOSES DOOR, PROCEEDS TO SIT AT TABLE, C. MULLAN STANDS]

9:18 - C. MULLAN: "You’ve really done it this time, Alexander."

[MULLAN DRINKS BEVERAGE, APPEARS TO BE TEA]

9:18 - C. MULLAN: "Jesus, can’t I get a cup of fucking coffee around here?"
9:18 - A. ESTERMANN: "I don't do coffee."
9:19 - C. MULLAN: “I don’t want to know what you do.”

[PAUSE]

9:19 - C. MULLAN: “I mean, how could you let this happen? How could you let a changeling into your defense team?”
9:19 - A. ESTERMANN: “Excuse me?”
9:19 - C. MULLAN: “You invited that changeling in, didn’t you?”
9:19 - A. ESTERMANN: “The hell I did! She was recommended to me.”
9:19 - C. MULLAN: “By whom?”
9:19 - A. ESTERMANN: “I don’t know. The Registrar - I think.”
9:19 - C. MULLAN: “You think? You didn’t know where she suddenly came from?”
9:19 - A. ESTERMANN: “She said the Registrar allotted her to me. I don’t know.”
9:19 - C. MULLAN: “In other words, you let a perfect stranger just waltz into your offices, check out your team, have a good look at classified evidence... I think you really could use some coffee.”
9:19 - A. ESTERMANN: “I’m not stupid! I looked up her name afterwards in the Registry. She signed up just like everyone else. And she had the credentials. She had six years of your oh-so beloved Royal Canterlotian [SIC] under her belt. She was a research associate in the anthropological, uh, equinological faculty the for another five-”
9:20 - C. MULLAN: “Tiny correction: Lyra Heartstrings was a research associate in Canterlot. And now my main concern is the following: Who is that sitting out there right now?”

[MULLAN POINTS] 

9:20 - A. ESTERMANN: “Not Lyra Heartstrings?” 
9:20 - C. MULLAN: “No. This is a changeling impersonating Lyra Heartstrings.”
9:20 - A. ESTERMANN: “I don’t know that now, and I certainly didn’t know that back then. And I had no reason to doubt her.”
9:20 - C. MULLAN: “Reason Number One: She was a pony who inexplicably wanted to join the defense for Queen Chrysalis. For which there are two possible explanations. A: She spies for the Equestrian Crown. B: She’s a fucking changeling.”
9:20 - A. ESTERMANN: “Or C: Literally anything in-between the two! Since when are ponies like her not allowed to be a little bit ambitious?”
9:20 - C. MULLAN: “Whatever, we’re arguing the toss now. Her game is up. For all we know, the real Lyra Heartstrings might be floating under a canal bridge somewhere.”

[PAUSE]

9:21 - A. ESTERMANN: “For- for all we know, Colm, there never was a Lyra Heartstrings to begin with. This one we got sitting on the chair right there might just as well be the one and only.”
9:21 - C. MULLAN: “No, no, no. I did my homework on changelings, Alex. They don’t just come up with false personas willy-nilly, they steal them. And the original is not usually left to run around freely - if you catch my drift.”
9:21 - A. ESTERMANN: “You can’t prove that.” 

[C. MULLAN FINISHES DRINKING OF CUP, DISPOSES OF CUP]

9:21 - C. MULLAN: “And apart from that, she’s here to aid the queen in a prison escape.”
9:21 - A. ESTERMANN: “What- oh what! Did she tell you that yourself?”
9:21 - C. MULLAN: “What do you think a changeling is doing in the Hague? I doubt she’s here to partake in due process.”
9:21 - A. ESTERMANN: “How do you know any of this?”

[PAUSE. C MULLAN SHRUGS]

9:21 - A. ESTERMANN: “You are assuming a lot of things today. Any other ugly stereotypes you would like to perpetuate? Anything else to nourish your hostile perception of changelings?”
9:21 - C. MULLAN: “Oh cut out the civil rights crusading shite, Alexander. She’d bite your hand off the moment you turned away.”
9:22 - A. ESTERMANN: “Really? She had plenty of opportunity last week, and I can still count to ten.”
9:22 - C. MULLAN: “Changelings are dangerous animals. I’m not being funny.”
9:22 - A. ESTERMANN: “Have you ever met a changeling before?”
9:22 - C. MULLAN: “I’ve read the reports! I’ve heard the statements. Those bastards are raiding UN delegations and kidnapping them off to God-knows-where as we speak! No sound human is going to assume good intentions if they ever met a changeling themselves.”
9:22 - A. ESTERMANN: “Is she going to have to answer for what any of the tens of thousands other changelings are doing on another continent on the other side of the earth? What a bold-faced generalisation! I thought better of an ICC judge, Colm.” 
9:22 - C. MULLAN: “Who knows? She could have been one of those guys before she made her way over to us - by which means, I don’t even want to know.”
9:22 - A. ESTERMANN: “Unbelievable. Now you’re placing all changelings under general suspicion [SIC] too? This is getting better and better!” 

[C. MULLAN SEARCHES OWN POCKETS]

9:22 - C. MULLAN: “And adding insult to insult, she is an illegal immigrant. Someone will at least have to inform the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service about her.”
9:23 - A. ESTERMANN: “Well it won’t be me.

[A. ESTERMANN POINTS]

9:23 - A. ESTERMANN: “I need her here, Colm.”
9:23 - C. MULLAN: “You can always get another caseworker - a proper one. And you know that.”

[C. MULLAN RETRIEVES PILLBOX (NAME: “LASIX”), RETRIEVES CAPSULE] 

9:23 - C. MULLAN: “Why the hell are you so defensive of her, anyway?”
9:23 - A. ESTERMANN: “Fuck you. That’s why.”
9:23 - C. MULLAN: “Aha.”

[C. MULLAN INGESTS CAPSULE DRY; PAUSE]

9:23 - C. MULLAN: “And I’ve thought better of you, too. You do realise this will mean nothing but trouble for you lads, right?”
9:23 - A. ESTERMANN: “Maybe.”
9:23 - C. MULLAN: “And it won’t be trouble I’m going to fish you out of this time around - because I’ve given you a fair warning.”
9:23 - A. ESTERMANN: “Duly noted.”
9:23 - C. MULLAN: “You let her take care of your investigative work. Do you know how much she could have falsified without you catching on?”
9:23 - A. ESTERMANN:  “It shouldn’t be too difficult to find out then. She dutifully wrote down all the necessary sourcework.”
9:24 - C. MULLAN: “I’m just not very keen on reading something compiled by some anonymous illiterate changeling, alright?”
9:24 - A. ESTERMANN: “Here we go again. How do you know she is illiterate? How do you know she didn’t really attend the Canterlotian [SIC] for eleven fucking years?”
9:24 - C. MULLAN: “And I repeat, changelings replace. They do not pull personas out of their arses. And where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
9:24 - A. ESTERMANN: “And no one noticed this replacement?”
9:24 - C. MULLAN: “That’s the idea. Did she make a very academic impression on you?” 
9:24 - A. ESTERMANN: “Academic? No. Educated? Actually yes.”
9:24 - C. MULLAN: “So you can vouch for her?”
9:24 - A. ESTERMANN: “I can indeed. I didn’t see her kill anyone, and I didn’t see her violently try to eat anyone. I didn’t even see her shit on any rugs.”
9:24 - C. MULLAN:  “Oh. So she only lied to you.”
9:24 - A. ESTERMANN: “Yes.”
9:24 - C. MULLAN: “Great fucking record.”
9:24 - A. ESTERMANN: “I know.”

[PAUSE]

9:25 - C. MULLAN: “Alex, here is the thing. I don’t know what your game is, but this creature - whatever her motive - intruded on the most intimate facets of our situation. And I’m not even talking about the state of the defense. For one, she walked in on the two of us in the tub yesterday.”
9:25 - A. ESTERMANN: “Well, this can’t be taken the wrong way at all.” 
9:25 - C. MULLAN: “Get your mind out of the gutter and focus. Do you realise what consequences it will have for us, should word of this ever see the light of day?“
9:25 - A. ESTERMANN: “She’ll keep her mouth shut. I will make sure of that myself.”
9:25 - C. MULLAN: “Can you though? She potentially got us by the balls.“
9:25 - A. ESTERMANN: “Just like we got her by the... you-know-what.”
9:25 - C. MULLAN: I don’t consider those who have no gripes about lying to be especially reliable. So I’m asking you again: Can you truly vouch for her?”
9:25 - A. ESTERMANN: “Yes.”
9:25 - C. MULLAN: “Without hesitation?”

[PAUSE]

9:25 - C. MULLAN: “I’d hate to remind you of what will happen to us all if you turn out to have misjudged this situation. So here is the deal. If you can honestly vouch for her, without a morsel of doubt, I will leave now, and not bother you about this again. And if you can’t, you will do everything I say. Now then, what shall it be?”

[PAUSE; A. ESTERMANN SHAKES HEAD, SHRUGS]

9:26 - C. MULLAN: “I knew it.”
9:26 - A. ESTERMANN: “Well if you’re so sure of yourself, Colm, why didn’t you report her to someone already?”
9:26 - C. MULLAN: “Because, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, I’ve never met her. We never crossed paths. Do you understand?”
9:26 - A. ESTERMANN: “Alles klar. [SIC]”
9:26 - C. MULLAN:  “ But there still is one thing that’s been truly grating me. It kept me awake for much of last night.”
9:26 - A. ESTERMANN: “Tell me.”

[C. MULLAN SEARCHES POCKETS, RETRIEVES WALLET, RETRIEVES PIECE OF PAPER]

9:26 - C. MULLAN: “Here is a number. Call it.”
9:26 - A. ESTERMANN: “What is this?”
9:26 - C. MULLAN: “Should it turn out that there is an actual Lyra Heartstrings, I want you to make sure that she is in good health.”
9:26 - A. ESTERMANN: “Don’t be ridiculous, Colm.”
9:26 - C. MULLAN: “Just call the fucking number. Make the enquiry. Show some responsibility for once!”

[C. MULLAN HANDS OVER THE PIECE OF PAPER TO A. ESTERMANN] 

9:26 - A. ESTERMANN: “Call whom? Who the hell has a phone in Equestria?”
9:26 - C. MULLAN: “The UN people there who lead the investigation for the court. Ask them to seek out her address, and have them make a house call. Better be safe than sorry.”

[A. ESTERMANN INSPECTS THE PIECE OF PAPER]

9:26 - A. ESTERMANN: “Colm, Let us not wake any sleeping dogs here. What am I supposed to tell them anyway?”
9:26 - C. MULLAN: “You don’t have to explain anything, you just file the request and sit back. You tell them that you are pursuing a possible lead. Don’t forget that they work for us down there, not the other way around.”
9:27 - A. ESTERMANN: “And what, or who, should they be on the look-out for?”
9:27 - C. MULLAN: “If they come across a Lyra Heartstrings who’s none the wiser, so be it. If they don’t meet anyone, fine; if they can’t, no one can.”
9:27 - A. ESTERMANN: “And what if, hypothetically speaking, they come across a half-dissolved corpse in the bathtub? Are you really going to sic the Dutch police on her?”
9:27 - C. MULLAN: “No. You will. And you’ll be doing it for your own sake. I’ll certainly not watch you dismantle your own career assisting a hijacker or a murderer, no matter how tasty her sources might seem.”
9:27 - A. ESTERMANN: “Fair enough. But she just doesn’t strike me as the violent type. There has to be mundane explanation for all of this.”
9:27 - C. MULLAN: “Let us find out. Go make that inquiry.”

[PAUSE]

9:27 - A. ESTERMANN: “You mean right now?”
9:27 - C. MULLAN: “I’ve got nowhere to be.”

[A. ESTERMANN PICKS UP DESK PHONE #2, LINE #8, AND TYPES THE NUMBER SEQUENCE: 00700 510]

9:28 - A. ESTERMANN: “Let us see what is actually going on here.”
9:28 - C. MULLAN: “The Equestrian phone lines are new and practically untested. Give it a few minutes.”
9:28 - A. ESTERMANN: “Who will I be talking to?”
9:28 - C. MULLAN: “Some Canadian fellow called Pierre Abel.” 

[C. MULLAN CITES FROM HIS PIECE OF PAPER]

9:28 - C. MULLAN: “He is the ‘Deputy Programme Officer for Southern Equestria.’ Which means he is high enough to call the shots regarding investigation measures, but not too high up for you having to cut your way through any red tape.”
9:29 - A. ESTERMANN: “He sounds French. Does he speak French?”
9:29 - C. MULLAN: Why? “Do you speak French?”
9:29 - A. ESTERMANN: “French was my secondary.”
9:29 - C. MULLAN: “Fancy that. But I have no idea. Now don’t fuck about.”

[A. ESTERMANN ACTIVATES CALL AND PROCEEDS TO ACTIVATE THE CALL AND KEEP THE LINE OPEN FOR 3:12 MINUTES; CONNECTION IS POOR; PHONE CALL IS NOT RECEIVED AND ABORTED ON A. ESTERMANN’S END]

9:33 - A. ESTERMANN: “Nothing.”
9:33 - C. MULLAN: “You sure?“

[A. ESTERMANN SHRUGS]

9:33 - C. MULLAN: Alright. “He is a busy man. Maybe he’s on a tour.”
9:33 - A. ESTERMANN: “Yeah, I don’t have time for this. I’ll get back to him later.”
9:33 - C. MULLAN: “You better fucking. [SIC] Alright, next point of order. While you’re on the phone and everything…”

[C. MULLAN RETRIEVES CALLING CARD FROM HIS WALLET, HANDS IT TO A. ESTERMANN]

9:33 - A. ESTERMANN: “What is it now?”
9:33 - C. MULLAN: “Your dear friend, Dr. van Biene.”
9:33 - A. ESTERMANN: “Jesus, leave me alone with that fucking shrink of yours. Let her fawn over the queen if she wants to.”
9:33 - C. MULLAN: “I want to know what’s going on. And you will find that out, now.”
9:33 - A. ESTERMANN: “Are you really afraid she's lost it?”
9:33 - C. MULLAN: “For your sake, let us hope she is merely undergoing a creative phase. A rogue psychologist is a dangerous thing indeed.”

[A. ESTERMANN PICKS UP DESK PHONE #2, LINE #3, AND TYPES THE NUMBER SEQUENCE: 0031 70 555 1386]

9:34 - A. ESTERMANN: “I hope you didn’t just hand me her therapeutic hotline.”
9:33 - C. MULLAN: “Why, do you need one?”

[A. ESTERMANN ACTIVATES CALL AND PROCEEDS TO KEEP THE LINE OPEN FOR 8 SECONDS; CONNECTION IS MODERATE; PHONE CALL IS RECEIVED BY AN AUTOMATIZED HOLDING LINE FOR 2 SECONDS; PHONE CALL IS ANSWERED BY B. BOSCH --- FOR EXHAUSTIVE DETAIL SEE PORTFOLIO “BARBARA BOSCH NL”]

9:34 - B. BOSCH: “Goedemorgen, u spreekt met de praktijk van Doctorandes Antje van Biene, Psychologe. Mijn naam is Barbara Bosch. Waarmee kan ik u van dienst zijn? [SIC]” 
9:34 - A. ESTERMANN: “Uh, hello?”
9:34 - B. BOSCH: “Ja, hallo. Waarmee kan ik u helpen? [SIC]”
9:34 - A. ESTERMANN: “My name is Alexander Estermann.“
9:34 - B. BOSCH: Estermann? Hoe schrijf ik dat? Heeft u eerder met ons te maken gehad? [SIC]”
9:34 -A. ESTERMANN: I am the defense counsel of Her Royal Highness, Chrysalis of the Changelings. I understand that Dr. van Biene provided for the court a psychological evaluation of my client.
9:34 - B. BOSCH: “'U wil een meeting met Dr. van Biene? [SIC]”
9:34 -A. ESTERMANN: “Meeting? No. I wish to have a word with her about her efforts at the earliest convenience.”
9:34 - B. BOSCH: “Het spijt me, meneer Estermann. Dr. van Biene is momenteel niet beschikbaar, ze zal voor de rest van de week niet aanwezig zijn. Ik kan geen afspraken voor haar maken tot volgende week maandag. [SIC]”
9:35 - A. ESTERMANN: “Listen, can you just tell her to call me back on this number as soon as possible? You can take the following message for her: It’s about a grave potential discrepancy in her evaluation that must be urgently addressed. The court depends on Van Biene’s availability in this matter. Do you understand?”
9:35 - B. BOSCH: “Ik zal het zo snel mogelijk aan Dr. van Biene doorgeven. Is er nog iets anders waarmee ik u zou kunnen helpen? [SIC]”
9:35 - A. ESTERMANN: “Yeah, aha. Good-bye.”

[CALL IS DISCONNECTED ON A. ESTERMANN’S END]

9:35 - C. MULLAN: “You didn’t reach her?” 
9:35 - A. ESTERMANN: “Just some intern. They should really teach them how to speak English. I thought this was the Netherlands.”
9:35 - C. MULLAN: “I see.”

[PAUSE]

9:35 - A. ESTERMANN: “Anything more, Colm?”
9:35 - C. MULLAN: “God, I hope not.”
9:36 - A. ESTERMANN: “Do me a favour and just forget about all this. Keep calm and, go find yourself a coffeehouse and smoke a joint or something.”
9:35 - C. MULLAN: “This will end in tears. I just know it.”
9:35 - A. ESTERMANN: “As long as we all keep the lid on this, nothing will happen. Trust me.”
9:35 - C. MULLAN: “I wish I could, I really do.”

[C. MULLAN PREPARES TO LEAVE, HEADS FOR OFFICE DOOR, OPENS DOOR]

9:35 - C. MULLAN: “I’m off. My learned friend.”
9:36 - A. ESTERMANN: “Your Honour.”

[C. MULLAN STEPS OUT, ADDRESSES ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ WHO SITS BEHIND GLASS PANE]

9:36 - C. MULLAN: [INAUDIBLE]
9:36 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “[INAUDIBLE] Thank you.”

[‘L. HEARTSRINGS’ ENTERS ROOM, REMAINS STANDING BY DOOR]

9:37 - A. ESTERMANN: “Close the door, Heartstrings.”

[‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ CLOSES DOOR. ESTERMANN BECKONS ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ OVER WITH FINGER’]

9:37 - A. ESTERMANN: “Sit.”

[‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ CROSSES ROOM AND SITS DOWN - HESITANTLY - ON LEFT VISITOR’S CHAIR]

9:37 - A. ESTERMANN: “So?”
9:37 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I [PAUSE] was taking another look at the queen’s testimony on [PAUSE] Trot.”
9:37 - A. ESTERMANN: “Aha.”

[PAUSE]

9:38 - A. ESTERMANN: “What the hell were you thinking?”

[PAUSE]

9:38 - A. ESTERMANN: “Do you know how much trouble you have gotten yourself in?”

[‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ NODS]

9:39 - A. ESTERMANN: “Cooperativeness is not a crime. But fraud is. And so is identity theft.”
9:39 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I am ready to face the consequences of my actions.”

[PAUSE]

9:39 - A. ESTERMANN: “What is your name?”
9:39 - ‘L. HEARTSRINGS’: “My name?”
9:39 - A. ESTERMANN: “Your real name. Do you have any other name but this one?”
9:39 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I do.”
9:40 - A. ESTERMANN: “Let’s hear it then.”
9:40 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I’m afraid that it’s not a name a human could understand. Much less an - a real pony.”

[PAUSE]

9:40 - A. ESTERMANN: “Well then, Lyra Heartstrings. Do you know what I have been busy doing this morning?”
9:40 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “No, sir.”
9:40 - A. ESTERMANN: “I have been filling out your form of resignation.”

[PAUSE]

9:41 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I see.”
9:41 - A. ESTERMANN: “All that would be needed now is your signature.”
9:41 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I’m afraid I don’t have a pen on me.”
9:41 - A. ESTERMANN: “Do you want to sign?”
9:41 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I will do what is asked of me.”
9:41 - A. ESTERMANN: “Do you want to?”

[PAUSE]

9:41 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Absolutely not, Mr E.”
9:41 - A. ESTERMANN: “Of course not, you have travelled a long way to be here in Holland.”
9:41 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Yes.”
9:41 - A. ESTERMANN: “To do what exactly?”
9:41 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “To help.”
9:41 - A. ESTERMANN: “Who? The Queen, or her defense?”
9:41 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I would do anything to free her.”
9:41 - A. ESTERMANN: “Even break the law? I mean, more than already?”
9:41 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I wasn’t planning on sending her a rasp baked into a baguette, if that’s what you mean.”
9:42 - A. ESTERMANN: “I want you to understand that, if you do anything stupid, I am not going to cover you. I couldn’t and I wouldn’t. This is a house of justice, and if you get in the way of due process, I will not hesitate to let you get run over.”
9:42 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I wouldn’t demand anything from you, sir. This whole thing grew out of my soil.”
9:42 - A. ESTERMANN: “If you decide to stay on the right side of the tracks, however, I will do all within my power to keep you safe - both you, and your mother.”

[PAUSE]

9:42 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Does that mean that I can stay?”
9:42 - A. ESTERMANN: “It does.”

[‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ STANDS UP]

9:42 - L. HEARTSTRINGS: “Mr E. I don’t know how to thank you!”
9:42 - A. ESTERMANN: “Sit down.”

[‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ SITS DOWN; PAUSE]

9:43 - A. ESTERMANN: “You see, I would be more than happy if you walked out of this office and went back to whatever forest you actually came from. It would take an immense load off my mind. Do you understand that?”
9:43 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Really? I mean, yes.”
9:43 - A. ESTERMANN: “There is one reason, and one reason only, why I am deciding to keep you: Some days ago, I made a promise to your mother; the promise to keep her brood alive and well where she cannot. If I revealed that you’re actually a changeling, the Dutch would have you deported back to Equestria within the month. And what the Equestrians themselves will do with you then, I don’t want to imagine.”
9:43 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “My mother?”
9:43 - A. ESTERMANN: “I assume this is why she recognised you the other day in the courtroom. 'Little hoofmaiden' [SIC]? The queen is your mother, isn’t she?”
9:43 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “She is. My mother and my queen.”
9:43 - A. ESTERMANN: “There we go. So the next time you should run into her - which, by the way, I will make sure won’t be soon - you can thank her for all her concern.”
9:43 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I will. And I thank you, Mister E [SIC]!”
9:43 - A. ESTERMANN: “You said you were busy going over the queen’s comments on Trot?”
9:43 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “All those you recorded over that interview  session, sir. I thought I had seen some strange factual mistakes. But I’m not entirely sure. I wanted to go over everything again tonight, so there won’t be any bad surprises in the courtroom.”
9:43 - A. ESTERMANN: “Fine. You can go back to doing that. You can also continue hauling in all the intel from Equestria. But I want you to take note of your sources in the most intricate of details.”
9:44 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I’m on it!”

[‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ STANDS UP.]

9:44 - A. ESTERMANN: “Before you go, answer me one last question.”
9:44 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Anything, sir!”
[PAUSE]
9:44 - A. ESTERMANN: “Well, I don’t know how this changeling disguise thing works, I have never seen it. But it looks quite convincing.”
9:44 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Thank you. I try my best.”
9:44 - A. ESTERMANN: “Is there a real ‘you’ that you can show me, a real changeling under there?”
9:44 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Yes, I could. But I really, really, really shouldn’t.  Dropping my disguise isn’t a low-key thing.”

[‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ POINTS OUT GLASS PANE]

9:44 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “They would see it. And they will grow suspicious. Of course I'd do it if you demanded it now, but please, Mister E [SIC], I beg you not to!”
9:44 - A. ESTERMANN: “Alright. I see.”

[PAUSE]

9:45 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Is that all?”
9:45 - A. ESTERMANN: “Not quite. Answer me one other thing.”
9:45 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Anything.”
9:45 - A. ESTERMANN: “How many Lyra Heartstrings [SIC] are there in the world right now?”
9:45 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Huh?”
9:45 - A. ESTERMANN: “You are here in disguise. Can you give me a guarantee that, at no point in the future, does a certain Lyra Heartstrings march through those doors and ask what the fuck is going on?”
9:45 - ‘L. HEARTSRINGS’: “I can! It’s out of the question!”
9:45 - A. ESTERMANN: “How can you be so sure?”
9:45 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I-”
9:45 - A. ESTERMANN: “Has there, at any point in time, been another Lyra Heartstrings I should definitely know about?”

[PAUSE]

9:45 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Yes sir.”
9:45 - A. ESTERMANN: “Where is she?”
9:45 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “She is long gone.” 
9:45 - A. ESTERMANN: “How long?”
9:45 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Years.”

[PAUSE]

9:46 - A. ESTERMANN: “I see. Okay.”
9:46 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Really?”
9:46 - A. ESTERMANN: “Off you go, Lyra Heartstrings.”
9:46 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “Thank- thank you again. I will never forget it.”
9:46 - A. ESTERMANN: “Don’t mention it.”

[‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ PROCEEDS TO APPROACH DOOR]

9:46 - A. ESTERMANN: “I really mean it, though. Do not mention any of this. If what has been discussed here today leaves this room, we will all be done for.”
9:46 - ‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’: “I get it, sir. My lips - and my disguise - are sealed - watertight.”
9:46 - A. ESTERMANN: “Take care.”

[‘L. HEARTSTRINGS’ EXITS THROUGH DOOR, DOOR CLOSES BEHIND HER; PAUSE]

9:49 - A. ESTERMANN: “Was zum Teufel mache ich da? [SIC]”


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