This is a long one.

Written out as a Q & A. Q indicates my questions/responses, and H indicates Hugo's answers. It's also safe to mention that Hugo is naturally quiet, straight to the point, and analytical, and he thinks before he speaks. So after every question, there's usually a slight pause as he thinks about his answer. He's a true ISTJ.

Another note: in the Goal, Motivation, and Conflict section, there wasn't a place for religion and Xs are on all of those for Hugo

Q: Hello, Hugo. The weather has been awful recently, hasn't it? I'm personally tired of it being cold and wet all the time.

H: Hasn't been too terrible, in my opinion.

Q: Right. Well, do you mind introducing yourself to our audience?

H: What would you like to know?

Q: Your name, your profession...anything you like honestly.

H: *sits quietly for a moment before speaking* I am called Hugo. Just Hugo. My family name no longer belongs to me because I no longer belong to my family. I was once a physician, but I no longer practice. I do not wish to say anything further.

Q: Okay, well just so you know I will be asking a lot from you today, and your drink was laced with a truth serum. Unfortunately for you, I plan to be besties with you today and get as much information as I can out of you.

H: *dumps the rest of his drink on the floor and gently places the cup on the table without speaking*

CHILDHOOD

Q: So, let's start with the first question. What was your best and worst memory of your childhood?

H: My best memory was entering the Academy. My worst memory was the process it took for me to be accepted.

Q: Do you care to elaborate on that?

H: No.

Q: What if you did?

H: *stares stoically and then sighs* As you know, the Academy does not let just any riffraff in, and even high-ranking individuals get turned away. It's a holy land of knowledge. Thousands of years of history, art, medicine, and the bodies of the gods lie there. I was never a...proper child, you could say. I preferred to hone my mind over my body, and my seafaring father was disappointed in such a lazy child, to put it lightly. To cut a long story short, I was the first in my village to ever step foot in the Academy, let alone a university. The feeling of accomplishment was freeing. I would rather cut my hands on scalpels than stain them with the guts of fish.

Q: So, would you say your father was the reason why you disliked the memory of joining the academy so much?

H: Only a little. There is more to the story. Much more, but I do not wish to speak of it.

Q: Not even a little?

H: I'd rather walk the streets naked, tarred and feathered.

Q: Rough. Okay, well next question. Did you like your days at the Academy?

H: Indeed, I did. I would consider the early years the best years of my life.

Q: How old were you when you were accepted?

H: Nine.

Q: So young!

H: Yes.

Q: Do you want to tell us more about those years?

H: *long pause* The reason why I was happy there had little to do with the work I was given, which at such a young age, the boys were tasked with nothing more than basic housekeeping and perfecting scholarly etiquette. The happiness resided in the halls. I would spend hours memorizing the tapestries, and there's a certain level of...decorum when you present yourself to other scholars. Masters and Madames of the Books were proud men and women, but they never treated you as a subordinate. Never experienced true respect before or since.

Q: Hm. Sounds nice. Last question about your childhood and we can move on. Did you have a childhood friend? What about an enemy?

H: Those are two questions.

Q: Forget semantics, just answer them.

H: Answering for the enemies...well, children don't have the proper mind for a proper enemy. There were other boys I did not like, but that hate was subjective. As I look back, I do not even recall why they disgusted me so, other than one boy was too loud or another was always pulling down the veils of the girls. The women wear veils, you see. We all practice piety at the Academy, and I had gotten caught trying to break his fingers for defacing her in the eyes of the gods. Fingers are hard to break when you are twelve and have nothing but a stack of manuscripts.

Q: Did you think he deserved that punishment?

H: I would not have taken justice into my own hands if I thought not. Punishment is done by the Masters of Arms, but they tend to go easier on the children. Anyways, a friend you ask? I never truly felt I belonged to people. I didn't talk much and would not now if it wasn't for your blasted potion. Friends, generally speaking, were not true friends to me. I would be more inclined to call them colleagues or alliances over friends. However, there was one girl. Her name was Anifa. She was gentle-hearted and we practiced our physician's arts together. She didn't like to talk much either. There were times when we would be together and we would part, and I would realize neither of us said a word. She liked to point at things instead of speaking, and I was an observer who kept all my thoughts internal… She is dead now, and I mourn for her and what I did to her.

DAILY LIFE

Q: Tell me about your daily life when you were still a physician.
H: In the morning, we would all wake at four a.m. for mass prayer. The gods are punctual, I presume, but prayer was not what you may think it is and it would take too long for me to explain something so precise and complicated. Prayer would last until seven, which is when other Masters and the Madams would conduct our different services. I oversaw one of the vessels. She was the daughter of a small lord near the river lands. I cannot and will not discuss more on the matter.
Q: Understandable. So, we all know what happened next. Or maybe some of us do, but others are unaware. Anyways, now that you are stripped of your title and on the run from your prison break, how have you survived?
H: Simply put, sheer grit and knowledge. Luck has it that when you live your life behind a curtain wall, no one will recognize you. If I had not come across the group I am now and had they not found a way to remove me from the iron mask, I might have been forcefully tethered to the forest, but for the moment, I can walk a free man.

PERSONALITY
Q: So, there’s one thing I know you keep calling yourself. Do you really think of yourself as a coward?
H: Yes. Cowards come in all shapes of devils.
Q: Not the typical coward are you?
H: I suppose so. Fear was never my crutch. However, I guess one could believe my shaking disease could be cowardice.
Q: On a lighter note, what brings you the most joy?
H: When my hands stop shaking enough for me to complete a task.

Q: Back to a solemn note, what brings you the most sadness?
H: Many things I do not wish to discuss with you.
Q: Right. Okay so back to happy. What do you like most about yourself?
H: I would say my mind, but I think it runs much deeper than that. I would say Hugo - image 1 - student project Hugo - image 2 - student project it's my unyielding ability to survive.
Q: Okay, okay. And what do you hate most about yourself?
H: The shaking. I cannot control it, and I do not know what causes me to tremble more one day and none the next. Keahi had to feed me once, and I’ve never felt so humiliated.

DIG DEEP

Q: Just a few more questions and then you can be free of the serum. So what do you believe is the worst thing you’ve ever done?
H: I believe you can answer that.
Q: Yeah, I can but I want you to.
H: *long pause* When I created that earthquake. When I slaughtered that entire city.
Q: Yeah, it was horrific. So tell me, how do you believe you can be redeemed?
H: I have yet to figure out an answer for that. I am not a savior, that is clear. You can not justify the death of thousands to save a few. However, my redemption falls with the gods and with ceasing the senseless torture of the vessels and the peoples in connection to it.
Q: Savior complex?
H: *stares blankly*

DISCOMFORT
Q: Alright, we are getting to the end, and I got some doozies for you. In your opinion, and putting aside the destruction of the entire city, do you believe destroying the Academy was the right choice?
H: Yes and no. Yes because it removed the weeds that were left too long. No because many innocents died, and I don’t mean the citizens. I had only meant to destroy the Grand Library, but instead, destroyed the city. The Library is still intact, you know.

Q: I know. I heard a rumor that the survivors moved all those books and documents to some secret location.
H: …
Q: So asking if the death sentence for you was worth it is a moot point now?
H: I have no plans to die.
Q: No redemption in death?
H: There is no afterlife to cause me to redeem my soul.
Q: Last one and we are done here, but I’m curious. The bounty hunter that captured you and claimed “your head”, how does it feel to be working with him on another journey?
H: I do not judge a man by his profession; however, he watches me like a wolf does a sheep. If it wasn’t for Keahi, he would have had my real head a long time ago.

SJB

MBA Graduate, Aspiring Novelist

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