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I think you're gonna find he's taken the rest of his life off.
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That where Anderson worked?
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Yes it is. Thirtyfive percent pure Methane gas in there. I don't know how these fellas do it.
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Don't piss him off, O'Neal. When he gets like this, I can't control him. I've seen this before. He got like this once I saw him jerk a guy's spine out and show it to him. Nothing I could do. I hadda go throw up.
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... They took the stuff out, all of it this afternoon.
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You said you wanted the biggest thing I could find... Well, this is it.
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What is it?
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Casull .454 Magnum. You're talking twice the impact energy of .44 Magnum hot loads.
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Only holds five.
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Yeah, the shells are too big for six in an cylinder. Hell, Matt, you don't need but one.
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No... two.
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... and we work my hours. I'll do the driving, you do the paperwork. You gotta learn it so you might as well do it all.
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Sergeant... I'd like to thank you for what you're doing.
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What's that? Look, Jetson. Get this straight in your head. We're not pals, we're not married, and we ain't gonna take long moonlight walks together... We're just partners. And don't call me Sergeant. Call me Sykes... or Matt if you have to.
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I am George.
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Man, somebody really hung one on you! I've heard some good ones for you guys... Humphrey Bogart, Harley Davidson. I guess the people at immigration got a little punchy after a while, coming up with names for a quarter of a million of you. You weren't at the back of the line, were you, George?
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My true name is Ss'tangya T'ssorentsa'.
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Gesundheit. You don't mind if I stick to George, do you?
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Anyway, what's it matter to you if we think it's funny, right? Whatta you care?
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That is exactly so. It is like your name... Sykes. I'm sure it doesn't bother you at all that it sounds like "ss'ai k'ss", two words in my language which mean "excrement" and "cranium".
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Let's talk Hubley.
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His body was discovered three days ago, in an alley off of Central Avenue, near downtown.
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With two BRI Sabot slugs in the chest.
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Through the chest. Rupturing both the primary and secondary hearts.
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Nice signal, dickwad!
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Terrific. A real pillar of the community. Was Hubley missing anything when they found him? Was he ripped off?
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There was no wallet... but he was still wearing a watch and two rings.
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The guys at the minimart last night made a halfassed stab at the money in the till but I don't think that's what they were there for. I think we got us a couple'a executions on our hands, George...
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The murder at the minimart is not our case. The Captain said
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Look, you want to fit in here, right? You want to learn how to get along?
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Yes.
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Well, there's a thing about partners, about being somebody's partner. You do for each other. And other people's rules don't mean shit. It's the rules set up between the two of you, that's all that counts. Understand? Okay. Well, my friend and partner was shot last night and I'm after the shitbag that did it. As my partner, I'm asking you to respect me and help me find him.
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What is wrong?
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Nothing's wrong. I just want to get something straight. You agree that there's a good chance these two shootings are somehow related, right?
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Well... yes, quite possibly.
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Possibly. Good. Well, would you be willing to accept the theory, George, that... possibly... by examining the evidence from one case we might shed some small ray of light on the other? Does that sound unreasonable to you?
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Yes... no, it is not unreasonable. Although I
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Great. Well, I'm sure glad that's settled, aren't you?
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What's this? What's going on?
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Nothing.
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Nothing?
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Shouldn't we examine their personal effects?
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What is this?
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A rubber. A condom. You know... Coney Island whitefish? Men, human men, put them on their, uh penises to protect against having babies. You need this for anything?
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Get the picture?
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And that fits?
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Well... Yeah, it's rubber. It stretches.
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And still it fits?
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Newcomers working near methane gasses at oil refineries must paint it on their boots to protect against sparks.
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How the hell do you know that?
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A large number of my people were hired by refineries because the methane fumes are not harmful to us. My spouse's brother is one.
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So the Slag they're cutting into upstairs worked at a refinery just like Hubley worked at a refinery. I'd say that "possible" connection between the two cases just got a hell of a lot more possible. Okay, next step I gotta go talk to the wife of the Slag store owner blown away last night.
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I believe I should interview the widow alone.
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Why the hell?! Great, fine. You talk to the wife.
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Mrs. Porter is not taking her husband's death well.
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Did you learn anything?
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A week ago two men came to see her husband. After they left, he was very frightened. She identified one of the men from a photo I showed her. It was Hubley.
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Awright. What about the other guy?
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She didn't know him. But she said her son might.
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Did you talk to him?
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He has not been home since that day. But she told me where to find him.
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Rudyard Kipling? No shit? Listen, we just need a minute of your time...
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We'd like to ask you about a business associate of your, Warren Hubley.
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Why did you do it?
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Why'd I do what?
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Agree to work with me? You don't like me... you don't like any of us. You have nothing but contempt for us. And yet you become an outcast from your club of detectives by making me your partner...
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My partner is dead! Because one of you bastards killed him then disappeared into a rathole down in Slagtown, where he's home and dry, 'cause nobody sees nothing, nobody says nothing...
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Who said that?
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At the end of the bar.
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Your name wouldn't happen to be Porter, would it?
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Uh, Matthew...
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Back off, George.
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But I .
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I'll handle it.
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Screw you.
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Screw me? That can't be right.
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Tell me.
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Your mother mates out of season.
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That's very colorful. But see now I've got a problem. I don't seem to be getting much cooperation from you, Porter. So I guess we're gonna have to take this little session down to my office, ya know?
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Matthew, you don't have to .
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Stay back! I'm okay.
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You know that guy?
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From quarantine, when my people first arrived here. He and I were housed together.
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How could a straightarrow like you ever pick a roommate like him?
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In the camps, we were lodged four to a room. The selection process was entirely random. We did not get to stay with our friends... or families...
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If I may make a suggestion... We have different weak spots than you do. Next time, a blow to the nerve plexus under the arm, here, will produce the effect I think you were looking for.
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Yeah, sure. I knew that...
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I don't think I could ever learn to read that shit. How long did it take you to learn English?
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Three months. We learn quickly. We adapt. It is our strength... what we were bred for, to adapt to hostile environments.
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Which one is that? Raw what?
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This is mole. It's good.
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I'll bet. Would it really put you out if they tossed that on the grill for a minute or two?
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Our bodies do not assimilate the nutrients if the food has been cooked.
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So what was that other word for Human... Slow ka?
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Ss'loka'. It means literally "small but intelligent creature". It loses much in the translation.
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And what was that one about my mother? That was a good one.
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Ss'trokya ss'lato 'na'.
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Yeah, that's it. Say it slow.
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Who is he?
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Todd Watson. The assistant manager.
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