L'esprit de l'escalier is the sixty-second video in the EverymanHYBRID series. In it, Evan shows up at Vinny's house after fighting the Rake.
YouTube Description[]
No description available.
Transcript[]
[Video opens with a shot of a window. The camera is shaky and unfocused. Evan is standing outside Vincent's doorstep. He is wearing bloodstained clothing and a Haunter Pokemon hat. Vinny sets the camera down on a table.]
Vince: He's been standing there... two, uh, two hours now. He's got a fucking hat on his head. And...I dunno, he keeps ringin' and he keeps knockin', and I've ignored him, and I even called the cops, um, but, [laughs] I got a... I got a 'Your call cannot be completed as dialed'. How the fuck does 911 not go through as dialed, are you serious? [sighs]
Alright, so... I took matters into my own hands and I don't know if you can see this at all, but I got a wrench. [He holds a rusted red pipe wrench up to the camera.] And... I'm just gonna do what I have to do, I guess. [Vince walks to the front door.] I'm gonna open the door.
[He does so, but does not open the glass screen door. Evan stands motionless, then abruptly grabs the handle.]
Vince: What are you doing here, Evan?
[Evan smiles and laughs silently without taking his eyes from the floor. He steps inside. Vince backs away, keeping the wrench pointed at him. Evan takes off his hat.]
Evan: He's...he's embarrassing me.
Vince: What? Evan... do you know what you've done?
Evan: What did I do, Vin? Tell me, what did I do?
Vince: I saw you. I saw the video, I saw you kill our friend. [As he speaks, Evan shuts the door.]
Evan: Saw me kill our friend, you saw me kill 'em. And I did do it. [Evan laughs, gesturing to himself.] But do I, do I, do I look like it? Do I look like I just spent the last fucking, month, murdering everyone I love? [screaming] Is that what I look like to you? [Vince pushes the wrench into Evan's chest.]
Vince: Get back. Back away. Evan.
Evan: I look fine. I look fuckin' peachy, don't I? Say 'yes, I do!'
Vince: Yeah, you do. [Evan laughs.]
Evan: Jesus fuckin' christ. [still laughing] Does it look, does it look like I've suffered at all?
Vince: No.
Evan: Do I look like anything has changed? No! [Evan takes off his bloodstained jacket] This shit... [pulling at tropical shirt] and this... I wasn't even wearing it. He changed, he put it on. He put it on me.
Vince: What? Who put it on you, Evan? The hell are you talking about?
Evan: Think they're tryin' to prove a point, Vin. 'Cause, you see, no matter what I did, I couldn't go to sleep! It tore at me, and I tore at it. I held its fuckin' head in my hands, Vinny, I held its head in my hands, and do you know what it did? It gnashed at me! He just kept talking, and its body kept fuckin' moving, and it hit me in the stomach, and my fucking intestines fell out! Does it look like they fuckin' fell out? [Evan lifts up his shirt to reveal his bare abdomen, but a pink scar seems to have formed along the bottom.]
Evan: [Laughing] No-o-o-o-o! Because nothing changed, Vinny!
Vince: How is that possible, Evan? That's not even possible.
Evan: Why don't I have scars, Vin? [He holds up his bare forearms, devoid of any markings.] Why don't I have scars on my arm? Where did they go? The shit doesn't heal like that! They won't let me, they won't let me go.
Vince: I don't think they're gonna let any of us go, Evan.
[Evan sits down on the stair. Vince puts the wrench on the floor.]
Evan: Vinny...I tried.
Vince: Tried what, Evan?
Evan: I tried to keep you safe.
Vince: I don't think anything's gonna do it at this point, brother.
Evan: I'm sorry.
Notes[]
- The title is in French, and it translates to "spirit of the staircase," a colloquial phrase that refers to thinking of the perfect words to say, but too late.
- Evan regeneration adds weight to The Iteration Theory
- There was no EverymanHYBRID tweet accompanying this video.
Speculation[]
- HABIT is 'embarrassing' Evan because he tried to kill the Rake, and failed.
- The camera seems to be the same one that was used by HABIT/Evan in earlier videos.
- Evan survived because of HABIT's regenerative powers, as alluded to in a post on Damsel's blog.