"I love my job," the man said and smiled.
He had come into the room minutes before. He had not said a word, but gazed at Corman with what looked like a slightly amused curiousity. His face was placid. He exuded calmness, yet Corman was shaking. With a measure
(more)d pace, the man produced a pair of gloves from his pocket.
"The beauty of my job is I'm allowed to boil down what may seem like complex decisions into simple choices. You see, in my line of work, you come to understand that the true essence of a choice is not fully understood until its consequences are fully realized. Most people never understand the full consequences of their choices. Thus, those choices may seem difficult to make to them."
The man paused to look down at his hands as he slipped the gloves on.
"But I simplify choices. I make them easy. How do I do that? By making people realize the full consequences of their choices. When people realize the full consequences of their choices, I find that making the right choice always comes easy for them. And in my case, the right choice is always telling me the truth."
The man reached into another pocket and pulled out a leather pouch. He opened the pouch to reveal several metal objects. Deftly he slipped one out. To Corman it looked like a scalpel.
"Every person is different, and you never know how much pain it will take for them to understand the simplicity of their choice. Of course, I will always remove fingers. The pain has to be felt, even for those that talk before the first cut. A person doesn't truly know their capacity for truth until they understand their capacity for pain."
(less)
