Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Entering the Role

I have never been involved in politics.My father once warned me, "Don't get involved in politics, Larry," he said solemnly, "there's no good going on in the limelight. People don't like it." So I Never voted, not even after the passage of the amendment that year, when it was in favor of exercising citizenship for migrants (of which a considerable number were actors, of course). But, if I had to say, I don't think I like Penforte.I've always thought of him as a dangerous man, possibly a traitor to humanity.But now I'm asked to play him, to be his scapegoat—I really don't know how to put it—but I've already promised him, and I've made an oath—thinking of this, I'm really upset, isn't it taste.

who knows?What a "magnificent" role I have to play! I had played the leading role in "The Little Eagle," and played Caesar in two veritable Julius Caesar plays.And now that I'm being asked to play a character who's been assassinated in real life—hey, it's enough to let people know how one person can go to the guillotine for another—this sacrifice is just for the chance to play a very Difficult roles, even for a short time, to meet the crowd, just to create a masterpiece of artistic performance.God only knows! I don't know anyone among my peers who is as stupid as I am, who can't stand the temptation of expressing himself and a few hundred gold coins, so he plays the role of guillotine and ready to be assassinated.

While looking at the images, I tried to remember when the first murder of Penfolds took place, and which of my peers were qualified for the role and then became scapegoats at that time, or disappeared.But this recollection is useless.One is that I didn't pay much attention to these past events, and my memory is vague; the other is that it is common for actors to die or disappear for no reason.Undoubtedly, our profession as an actor is also a dangerous profession. Looking at the image, I think I have carefully considered the character of the character. I know I can play this role.Just do what you say, as long as you do it safely.Anyway, there is no way out.

First of all, in terms of physical appearance, it's not a problem: Penfort and I can change clothes to show any trace.Those plotting. Kidnapping me to play him was nothing more than an overestimation of my physical resemblance to Penfort's, which was not artistically adorned.Appearance is not important.Our resemblance is of course beneficial, but what is more important is the real ability of the actors.They went to The Hague to fiddle with computers, and they were lucky to find me, a real artist.One is that I really do have a twin brother with Penfort, and the other is that I can perfectly behave like him.

Penfold walked with a limp, a possible consequence of the assassination.It's nothing special.Watching him for a few minutes I could learn to walk like him without even thinking about it, the way he scratched his collarbone, rubbed his chin, and always made an almost imperceptible gesture before he spoke. I have no problem imitating these gestures of convulsions.While looking at the image, I figured out that all this has penetrated into my subconscious like water seeping into a pile of sand.Yes, we have a gap: he's a few to 20 years older than me, but it's not difficult, it's easier to play an older character than a younger one.

Tucker once hinted to me that I must be very realistic in my role, and those who know him must not see the flaws on any occasion.This is really difficult.For example, does he like sugar in his coffee?How much if you like it?Which hand does he use to light the cigarette, and in what position?I know these questions well.Because I memorized all those details while watching the film.For example, when I saw the way he lit his cigarette in the movie, I knew that he must have been lighting cigarettes with matches for many years before he made his fortune, and he must be smoking an old and cheap cigarette.

However, no one behaves in a single, static way all the time.It is impossible for an actor to take into account all the details of anyone's life, and it is even more difficult to make everything seamless.However, I only need to play for a short time, or even just show up.What disturbed me was not whether Penforte chewed the celery in a way that I looked like I might give away and make a fool of myself.What made me feel uncomfortable was that maybe the gunman had already aimed at me before the performance was over for a short period of time. However, I still seriously studied the big man I was going to play.How can I be sure?

While I was thinking about it, the door suddenly opened.I heard Tucker himself yell, "Are you all well?" The lights then came on, and the stereoscopic image disappeared. I just feel like waking up from a big dream.I turned to see the young woman, Penny, lifting her head up from the other hydraulic bed, and Tucker was standing in the doorway, strapped tightly to her body. I glanced at him and asked in surprise: "How did you manage to stand up?" At the same time, I secretly remembered the way he was standing, and according to my professional habits, I noted in my memory that this is "people standing up." Standing under two gravitational forces!"

He grinned at me. "It's no big deal. I wear a bow protector." "Hmph!" "If you want to stand up, you can do it too. Generally, we fly in conditions above one and a half gravity, and we don't encourage passengers to leave the lift hydraulic cabin privately - because some fools will accidentally trip and break a leg But I once saw a strong man like a weightlifter. After the press, he got up and walked under the condition of five gravity, but this person was useless later. Two gravity is not a big problem, and he can carry one on his back People." He glanced at the girl and said, "Penny, did you tell him straight?"

"He hasn't asked anything yet!" "What's the matter, Lorenzo. I thought you were an inquisitive guy who would ask questions about everything." I shrugged and said, "Now it seems that it doesn't matter whether I ask or not. Because anyway, I won't live long, and knowing it won't help me to do anything." "Hey, buddy, why bother to say such a thing?" "Captain Broadbent," I said wistfully, "I cannot speak frankly in the presence of a woman, nor can I say anything about your parentage, your personal habits, your aims, your morals. Open To be honest, I knew I had fallen into your trap as soon as I realized the special identity of the person I was going to play. I only want to know one thing now: What kind of person wants to assassinate Penfort? Even if it is for someone A bumpkin who is a target has a right to know who is shooting at him."

It was the first time I saw Tucker showing surprise. Then he laughed, so hard that he forgot the dainty poise of an astronaut as he accelerated.He slid to the deck, leaning his back against the bulkhead and laughing. "I don't see what's funny about that," I said angrily. He stopped laughing and wiped his eyes. "Brother Lorenzo, do you really think I made you a dead ghost?" "Obviously," I told him, drawing from past assassination attempts. He realized what I meant and stopped laughing. "I see. You must think this is some kind of medieval king's squire's kind of trick? Well, we've got to cheer you up; if you think your life is at stake, then I think it's playing tricks on you. Characters are no good. Listen, I've been following the boss for six years. In six years, I know he's never used a stand-in... Twice someone did attempt to murder him, and I was there, and I shot one of them Killed the Assassin. Penny, you've been with the Chief longer. Has he ever used a stand-in before?" She was expressionless and looked at me coldly. "Never. The thought that the leader will ask someone else to expose him to danger is... Hey, I should slap you, I should slap you!" "Forget it, Penny," Tucker said softly. "The two of you have your own tasks, and you have to cooperate with him. Besides, his wrong guesses are not too stupid, nor are they influenced by others. Let me introduce you, Lorenzo, this is Penelope. Russell. She is the chief's personal secretary, and she can be the best counselor for you." "It's an honor to meet you, miss." "Wish I could say 'honoured,' too." "Shut up, Penny! Or I'm going to smack your ass in two gravitational pulls. Lorenzo, I admit playing John Joseph Penfort is not as safe as riding a wheelchair, there's no such thing. We all know that, There have been times and times that someone wanted to terminate his life insurance. However, this is not what we are afraid of this time. In fact, due to various reasons this time, the guys we are going to face dare not wantonly kill the leader, nor Dare to kill you while playing the boss. You'll see that in a moment. Our opponents are brutal, you know! They'll kill me and even Penny for a little advantage Drop. If they could get you, they would have killed you by now. But when you show up in public as a leader, you will be very safe. They will never touch you. It must be so." After he finished speaking, he looked at my face. "How about it?" I shook my head, "I don't understand what you mean." "Don't get it? But you'll get it. It's a more complex problem, involving the way Martians see things. That's all. You'll know everything before you get there." I'm still unmoved.Tucker had never really lied to me before, and I knew that.But he may have made a point of telling the whole truth, as I have learned the hard way.I said, "Well, I have no reason to trust you, nor this young lady. Excuse me, ma'am. I don't like Penfort, but he takes pains to always be known for his honesty. Then I When will we talk to him? Will we talk when we get to Mars?" A sad shadow suddenly appeared on Tucker's ugly and cheerful face. "I'm afraid not. Didn't Penney tell you?" "Tell me what to look for?" "Brother, the reason why we insist on you playing the leader is that they have already kidnapped him." Perhaps it was a sudden stimulation of the nerves, or perhaps it was the double gravity, that made my head ache. "Now you know," Tucker went on, "you know why Jacques Dabois waited until we were off the ground to tell you the truth. This is the biggest news story since the first moon landing. We This report has been withheld right now, trying desperately to keep it under wraps so it doesn't leak out. We hope to use you to find him and get him back. In fact, you've started playing your part. The ship isn't really The real "Desperate", it is the chief's private yacht and travel office "Tom Paine". The "Desperate" is orbiting Mars' resident orbit, and the transponder outputs the identification signal of our spaceship .Only the captain and the commander know about it, while the other ship packs up and rushes back to Earth to find someone to replace the leader. Now you should see something, brother?" I have to admit, I didn't see it. "Yes, but . New Batavia, we'd make a big splash, and we'd do the same on Venus. But here, we're dealing with Martians. Have you heard the legend of Little Cagraal?" "I admit I don't know." "You should study it carefully. It will help you really understand what Martian credit is. To put it simply, a few decades ago, a young man named 'Ka' was going to appear in a certain place at a certain time. Great honors like knighthood. He didn't show up on time, and of course it wasn't the fault of the one who was bestowed on him, at least that's how we see it. You know, by Martian code, the only way to do that was to put him to death. But He was young and promising, with both integrity and ability. The activists present argued that he should be allowed to go back and try again, but Caglar did not agree to do so. He insisted that he had the right to ask for the original sentence to be executed. He finally got his wish and was A death sentence was pronounced. This catapulted him into the sublime personification and supreme exemplar of Mars." "That's just crazy!" "Really? We are not Martians. They are an ancient race. They have already formulated a system of rewards and punishments, which is applicable to all possible situations. They are the greatest formalists imaginable. Compared with them, ancient Japan Although people advocate duty and friendship, after all, they are just a group of Qiang governmentists who seem to be made on earth. Martians have no concept of 'right' or 'wrong'. They seem to only have 'ritual' and 'indecent'. But , the reason why this is very important to us is that our chief, Penfort, will be accepted into the young Cagraal's clan and become one of them. But he cannot go because he is kidnapped. You should understand by now Is it my words?" I still don't quite get it.It seems to me that the character of "Ka" he speaks of may be one of those hideous horror shows put on at the Théâtre Grande Guineaure in Paris.At this time, Captain Broadbent continued: "The matter is very simple. The chief is probably the person who has done the most effective research on the customs and psychology of the fire master. He has been understanding and studying this issue for many years. He has It was decided to go to the reception ceremony at Sun Lake at noon local time on Wednesday. If the chief Penfort passes the test normally there, everything will be fine. If he can't attend the ceremony-as for why he can't attend. No one cares ——Then, he will become a notorious person on Mars, and people in the entire universe empire will look down on him. The various reforms he tried to implement among different interstellar races will also fail completely. Even worse, accidents are likely. Presumably, at least it will happen: The Martians will withdraw from even the loose ties that currently exist between the empires, more likely to retaliate. They will kill the earthlings , Maybe all the earth immigrants on Mars and their descendants will be killed. At that time, the extremists of the human party will do whatever they want and use violence to incorporate Mars into the empire. It can only appear after death. All this happened because Penfold failed to attend the acceptance ceremony... The Martians take this very seriously." Tucker left as abruptly as he had appeared. Penelope Russell turns on the movie projector.It occurred to me, anxiously, that I ought to ask how, in the event that Penfold himself (or his substitute) fails to attend the barbaric acceptance ceremony of the Martians, thereby derailing the plans affecting the entire empire, how can we prevent our The enemy killed me.But I just forgot to ask the most important thing, maybe I was subconsciously afraid of the answer I might hear. After a while I returned to Penforte.I carefully observed his movements and postures, comprehended his expressions, silently imitated his tone, and gradually entered the role, intoxicated by the artistic conception.Literally, I've got his head around my neck. When the screen showed Penfold surrounded by Martians and touched by their prosthetic limbs, I couldn't help panicking, throwing my observations and research into oblivion.I also seemed to be there and met them.The stench of the Martian was unbearable to me.I felt as if someone had grabbed my neck tightly.So he let out a loud cry and reached out to grab it. "Lose it quickly!" light is on.The image then disappears.I saw Miss Russell staring at me. "What's wrong with you!" I struggled to catch my breath and control my trembling. "Miss Russell...I'm so sorry...but please stop. I can't stand Martians." She stared at me blankly, as if in disbelief at what she was seeing, but with contempt in her air. "I told them," she drawled contemptuously, "that this absurd plan will never work." "I'm so sorry. I can't help it." She didn't answer, just lumbered out of the hydraulic compartment.Under the two gravitational forces, she was not as comfortable as Tucker, but she still walked well.She left me without a word, closing the door behind her as she left. She didn't come back.The door was opened by a man who appeared to be sitting on an oversized stroller. "How do you do, young man!" he said in such a loud voice that I jumped. He looked to be in his sixties, slightly stout, but had an affable manner, and one could tell he was a doctor without looking at his license. "Good morning sir." "Fine. Slower would be better." He glanced at the mechanical device strapped to him. "What do you think of my tight-fitting car? It's probably not trendy, but it takes the tension out of my mind. I'll tell you straight up. I'm Dr. Capek, Penforte's personal physician. I know you're Who. We hear you're having trouble with the Martians?" I want to explain things as calmly as possible. Dr. Capek nodded. "Captain Broadbent should have consulted with me first, and then I'll change the procedure and get you used to it. The captain is a capable young man in his trade, but sometimes he cannot help Simple minded... His personality is totally typical extrovert, I worry about him. But it doesn't matter. Mr. Lorenzo Smythe, please allow me to hypnotize you. Please believe me, I am a doctor. I am here only for Use hypnosis only if it is good for you, I will never make you lose your mind." So he raised the pocket watch that belongs to the professional symbol, and quietly checked my pulse. I replied, "I happily agree, but I don't think it's going to work. It won't work for me." But my teacher was never able to lull me to sleep.A little hypnotic wood making might be useful for the show, but alas, the Medical Society has a whole bunch of regulations against it, and the local police are always making a fuss out of a molehill.Use this set of regulations to find trouble with actors. "Really? Then we have to give it a try. You relax a little, don't be nervous, and then we can talk about it." When he checked my pulse, he kept holding the pocket watch in his hand, fiddled with it, and twisted the watch chain.I mentioned the fob because it reflected the light from the desk lamp above my head into my eyes, but at the time I thought it might be a habit he didn't know himself.Why bother to remind him of such a small detail and distract him.Because I didn't mention that and just said, "My muscles are relaxed," I assured him, ""You can ask whatever you want.Free association is also possible. " "Then let yourself levitate," he said softly. "Two gravitational forces make you feel heavy, don't you? I myself usually use sleep to get rid of it. It keeps the blood out of the brain and makes one drowsy. They're speeding up again. We're all going to sleep... I feel heavy ...we're going to bed..." I want to tell him that it is better to put the pocket watch away, or it will fly out of his hand. I wanted to say, but before I finished a sentence, I was already asleep. When I woke up, I saw Dr. Capek lying on the bed. On the other speeder bunk. "Hello, buddy," he greeted me. "I'm tired of that nasty ride, so I decided to stretch out here and let off some tension." "Ah, we're back to two gravitational forces again?" "Well... yes, we are now in two gravitational forces." "I'm sorry, I seem to have fallen asleep. How long have I been asleep?" "Well, not too long. How are you feeling?" "Very well. Really well rested." "It often does that—accelerate, I mean. Want to see the movie again?" "Of course, listen to you, doctor." "That's good." He reached out to turn off the light.The room went dark again. I thought to myself: He's probably going to show me a movie about The Martian; I made up my mind not to panic.I've been through it many times anyway.Just pretend they don't exist.Indeed, films about them should not affect me.I probably wasn't mentally prepared. He showed three-dimensional films of Martians, some with Mr. Penfold and some without him.I found that this time I was able to watch it, and my mood was calm, without fear or disgust.Suddenly, I realized that I actually enjoyed watching it. I let out a cry.Dr. Capek immediately stopped the movie. "What's the matter?" "Doctor, you hypnotized me!" "You asked me to do it!" "But hypnosis doesn't work for me." "that's too regretful." "Ah, you've got a way. I'm not too stupid to see this." I added, "Why don't we try those videos again. I can't believe it's happening." He turned on the movie player, and I couldn't help being surprised watching it.Martians aren't annoying, if you look at them without prejudice; they're not even ugly.In fact, they are a bit quaint like ancient Chinese pagodas.Of course, their image is different from the people on Earth, but the bird of paradise is not like the people on the earth either, the bird of paradise is the cutest animal. I began to discover that their prosthetic limbs were expressive, that their awkward poses were a bit like a puppy's impertinent way of making affection for you.It was only then that I discovered that in the past I probably saw the Martians through colored glasses. Of course, I mused, it still takes time to get used to their stench.Suddenly, when I was thinking this way, I seemed to smell their smell.Exactly, that's the smell.But how come I don't care at all? "Doctor?" I said eagerly. "Does this machine have a stink emitter attached?" "Oh? I don't think so. No, I'm sure it won't. The yacht-style craft can't afford much extra weight." "But it must have. I can smell it." "Oh, yes." He looked a little embarrassed. "Brother, I did something for you that I hope will not cause you any trouble in the future." "What, sir?" "When we were researching what's inside your head, we found that there was a lot of neurotic tendencies towards Martians, which was apparently caused by the smell coming from their bodies. I didn't have time to do any further research, so I just offset it. I borrowed some of Penny's - that young lady who was here just now - some of her usual perfume. I'm just worried, man, from now on, Martians will smell like a Parisian barmaid to you .If I had time, I'd use some earthier aromatic scent, like ripe plums or warm sugar cookies. But I'll have to improvise." I sniffed it with my nose.Exactly, it does smell like strong, expensive women's perfume, no wonder I don't hate the smell of Martians this time.But, crap, it's all right, I love this Martian smell. "You can't dislike it." "But you probably spilled the whole bottle of perfume. The place is soaked in perfume!" "Huh? No, no. Half an hour ago I just waved the cork under your nose and gave the bottle back to Penny. He took it when he went out." He sniffed. "The scent is gone. 'Jungle Love', that's the perfume brand, and it seems to have a lot of musk in it. I blamed Penney for trying to make travelers want to travel to space forever, and she just laughed at me." The doctor closed the movie machine. "We've seen enough of this stuff. I'm going to expose you to something more useful." When the image of the film faded, so did the aroma.I don't quite understand why, but I must admit that the aroma intoxicates me.But, as an actor, I was mentally aware of the implications of that anyway. When Penny returned a few minutes later, she smelled exactly like a Martian.I am in love with this smell.