The Thaw

[first lines]

Dr. Kruipen:
My name is David Kruipen. What is sacrifice? What does it mean to make a real difference? Throughout my life and career I have straddled two worlds. Increasingly I have become respected. Increasingly my books and articles are published and read. Increasingly I have been embraced by policymakers and referenced by bureaucrats, but today I realize that I have... misguided myself. Today I rediscovered what I knew when I was young.

Atom Galen:
Look at that snow down there, it's melting fast. What do you think?

Evelyn:
You don't want to know what I think.

Atom Galen:
Sure we do.

Evelyn:
Honestly, I think that people are incapable of change, and their days are numbered.

Federico Fulce:
I just had the most painful piss of my life.

Evelyn:
There has to be another way. Please! People listen to you.

Dr. Kruipen:
You didn't.

Evelyn:
I used to believe that people couldn't change; that all we could do is have as much fun as we could before it all came to an end. And now, now I don't want it to end.