littljohn wrote:
Now you mention it, what >does< pull Sam's wire? We know how the pig gets his kicks, but what sets Sam off?
--lj
If I read Sam right, nothing. He had a mission to perform, and he agreed to do it-- maybe for patriotic reasons; patriotism is one of the favorite hooks of our self-appointed betters use to lead us around and make us suffer or die for them. In any case he took the job.
It didn't involve selling his soul. It involved burning a little bit of his soul every day, until the day came when he looked inside and found there was nothing left. They're a fine pair, Tony Ray and Sam; the monster and the walking dead man.
You know who Sam reminds me of? Cancer Man, from the X-Files. Only Cancer Man could still get angry, at least, and he cared about football, of all things. (Cancer Man: "I couldn't care less. What I don't want to see is the Bills winning the Super Bowl. As long as I'm alive, that doesn't happen.") There was that much of Cancer Man left. I think Sam is even more burned out than Cancer Man was. There's nothing inside there any more.