ATDTDA (12) - At Vibe Corp HQ. - Part One

[David Morris]

Synopsis of first half of this pivotal section:

Kit, the supplicant, passes between foreboding caryatids holding up
Vibe Corp. HQ tower.  These enslaved monsters seem to seek escape from
the shelter (and burden) above them and entrance into the storm.

Kit, the supplicant, finds that he is not, as he had expected to be,
"quaking like a young aspen before the mountain winds, but some
unaccustomed light, under the aspect of distance, had crept round him
instead, bringing him if not quite immunity, at least clarity."

Kit, the supplicant, has gained an edge: Clarity.

The ensuing dance between Vibe and Kit pivots about Kit's new Clarity,
which includes his understanding of:

1. The moment the tables had turned:  "Scarsdale was immediately aware
that he might have misplayed his hand, while for Kit things fell
quietly into their rightful places.  […]  The man sat there smirking,
secure in unquestioned might, unable to imagine how all he believed
protecting him had just turned to glass"

2. The need to conceal one essential truth:  "this one pure and steady
light he kept well within – the certainty that one day this [Webb]
would have to be put right"

Kit's response to Vibe's threatening question (and the moment thing
fell into place), "Do you think you have 20 years, Kit?" is a full
embrace of his own mortality, which elicits Foley's approving grunt.

More later...