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18 �Well, for the record, could you please state for the court what you meant?� It smiled its most charming smile � the one he usually reserved to blind an opponent during sleight-of-tongue. It knew he knew it, too. He glared at it. �All right,� it acquiesced. �We�ll skip over God for the moment. Step four � that doesn�t have God in it: Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.� �This is getting boring.� �Well, if you could just see your way to cooperating a wee bit harder with the moral inventory ...� �Why are you here?� he blurted angrily. �Are you supposed to be my conscience or something?� Harry sighed. �No,� it said, sounding bored itself. �For the fortieth time, I am you.� �Well, if you are me, why don�t you just answer all these questions yourself?� he sneered. Denby regarded him somberly, all traces of sarcasm gone from his face. �Are you sure that�s what you want?� it asked, its voice clearly warning him, �It�s much easier if you do it.� �Easier for whom?� he quipped. Ignoring him, it said, �You�ll have to ask the questions.� He shrugged, stared at the bare east wall of his bedroom and began reciting in a bored voice, �Do you admit to God, to yourself, and to another human being the exact nature of your wrongs?� But the last syllable stuck in his throat. The thing was going to start talking and he didn�t ... �Yes,� it said, �I admit I�ve hurt innocent people because of my inability to control my addiction. I�ve made a ...� ...want to hear ... Inexorably it continued, �... woman I love despise me with good reason ...� NO!! SHUT UP!!!! He had no idea if he�d screamed the words out loud or not. Shaking, he found himself rolled into a ball, his hands pressed to his ears when he realized that Harry had stopped talking at last. �It is much more painful this way,� it acknowledged gently. Why does it hurt, he wondered? It was only talking about itself � about the character he�d made up � so of course those things were true. He�d planned it that way ... hadn�t he?
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