After his honest answer, she watched his face with her steely blue eyes and listened. And as she studied his reactions, she gave several long blinks, letting her long eyelashes show. Cautiously, she stepped closer to him - close enough for him to smell her rosy perfume - and continued in a half-whisper.
"Do you only feel peace and tranquility in the cockpit of your machine? Let me tell you something, Mister Doe - life is a miracle and yet you are depriving yourself of its beauty. Life is more than an endless struggle for freedom."
In a slow, fluid motion, she reached out her left hand to him and tried to stroke his cheek with the back of her right hand. Even in this rather intimate gesture was her omnipresent calmness and regal demeanor. A caress on the cheek, if he allowed it, was obviously governed by some calculated rules and regulations of her own.
"Imagine that nature - in your case, science - has endowed us with the ability to perceive and explore our existence. They have given us reason, memory and taste."
"You live like a soldier, like a killing machine. Are you not missing other beauties in your life, other deeper experiences of your existence? I know that you are a very intelligent man, Mister Doe. An intellect like yours must be provoked by everything that is happening around you, regarding your future and even your past."
And with the same slow movement, she drew her hand back from his face to her body. She smirked lightly in amusement before turning her back on him theatrically and looking at the decor of their room. Then, in a half whisper, she asked him again.
"How do you actually perceive the world around you? For example, when you look at everything in this room, including me, what are the first five questions that arise in your mind, Mister Doe?"
