Baccano!/Recap/1934 Alice in Jails/Let's Think About the Outside
Alcatraz, nighttime. Dragon talks to Firo again from next door, marveling at Ladd's show of strength earlier that day. Ladd having a prosthetic hand reminded Dragon of Captain Hook from Peter Pan, and Firo jokingly wonders about the Peter Pan who cut off his hand. Firo is reminded of Claire's childhood dream of being a kid forever, and thinks about the irony being a teenager forever.
The conversation is interrupted when they hear a guard coming their way for night patrol. Firo pretends to be asleep, but the guard stops in front of his cell and accuses him of hiding something. The guard comes into Firo's cell, shows him a knife, and demands to know how Firo got his hands on it--but Firo had never seen it before. The guard, despite Firo's quiet protests, takes him to the dungeons.
On the way to the basement, Firo finds out that the guard was there under Missouri's orders, and that the knife was a plant in order to make up an excuse to get Firo alone. Firo is getting a chance to talk to Huey personally. Then the guard lets slip that he's a Double Agent, working for both Huey and Missouri.
Firo and the guard enter the dungeon corridors. The guard tells Firo that the guard who spoke to Firo on Huey's behalf when he first arrived has been removed from duty, and that even if Firo were to tell Missouri about the Double Agent, Huey would have little trouble turning another guard to his side.
They reach Huey's cell and enter. Someone is sitting on the chair at the center of the room, but it's not Huey--it's Isaac. Firo is taken aback and quickly scans the cell for Huey, stepping back. Then a hand appears from behind the door and lands exactly where Firo's head was a second ago.
Firo then realizes that it's actually a left hand. The rest of Huey Laforet emerges from behind the door, complimenting Firo for dodging so quickly.
Once the guard leaves the cell, Firo asks what Isaac is doing here. Isaac reveals that he'd been called down by the guard earlier and had been talking with Huey, whom he thinks is a Youkai(a zashiki-warashi to be precise). Huey thanks Isaac for the interesting conversation and asks him to leave so he can speak with Firo. Isaac departs happily, and Huey makes him promise not to tell anyone about their conversation.
Once Isaac leaves, Huey apologizes for pretending to attempt to devour Firo earlier--he just wanted to play a prank. Then he gets to the point--he called Isaac in after hearing that he was immortal because he was interested to see what kind of a person he was. Firo wonders if that's the same reason he was called in, but Huey tells him that it's only part of the reason--he brought Firo here because he knew Firo wanted to speak to him.
Firo only has one thing to say: Stay away from Ennis and the others. Huey apologizes for the things that happened last year with Christopher and Lamia, and promises to stay away, if Firo will cooperate with him. Szilard's knowledge is extremely valuable to Huey, and he's also curious about the effects that devouring other immortals has on the eater. Huey begins bombarding Firo with questions about his Ghost Memory and his sense of identity.
Firo is creeped out by all of this and asks Huey what his ultimate goal is. Huey's response is that his ultimate goal is to create a "demon", but in the end his motivation is the quest for knowledge. He wants concrete answers, not the idle philosophizing of his youth--even if it means the destruction of the world.
Firo thinks Huey's completely off his rocker, but Huey starts laughing and adds that he was only joking about destroying the world--he grew out of that phase centuries ago. Firo's getting fed up with Huey's jokes and points out that most of the 1711 alchemists hated him. Huey agrees, saying that he only had one friend, and that man was totally insane.
Huey suggests that the two of them work together--if Firo hands over Szilard's knowledge, Huey will reveal how he turns the guards to his side and his method of communication. He still has several days until he breaks out, so Huey asks Firo to consider the deal for the next few days.
After Firo leaves, Leeza reports to her father that a man carrying a huge monkey wrench is interfering with their plan, but that things will be all right because she's secured a hostage. Leeza then points out that Huey was laughing so happily while he was talking with Isaac and Firo--she's jealous. Leeza asks Huey if she could just go ahead and kill them. Huey lightly scolds her and reminds her that they are both immortal, so she can't do much to harm them.
Leeza is still uneasy that Huey was so happy while talking with these strangers. Huey thinks it's because talking with Isaac reminds him of the past, especially of Elmer.