Interviewed: PoI-0171

Interviewer: Dr. Maravilla

Foreword: Mr. Gutierrez had previously been uncooperative. Dr. Maravilla, having known him in the past, requested to speak with him before further interrogation attempts. Request was approved.

<Begin Log>

Dr. Maravilla: Good afternoon, Guillermo.

PoI-0171: Will! Man, I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?

Dr. Maravilla: I'm good, thank you.

PoI-0171: So… figures you'd be working here, I guess.

Dr. Maravilla: What's that supposed to mean?

PoI-0171: Come on. Of all of us, you were always the science-y one. Remember when you helped Matt with his volcano in seventh grade?

Dr. Maravilla: Oh yeah, that was a good one. Then Mrs. Salinas made us clean the classroom.

PoI-0171: At least me and Armando helped you guys out, we didn't just strand you.

Dr. Maravilla: Ah, good times.

PoI-0171: Yeah, man.

Dr. Maravilla: So, tell me. What really happened at the gallery?

PoI-0171: (agitated) It wasn't me, you already know that. Those uncool bastards stole one of my unfinished canvases and were gonna use it as part of some stupid exhibition. Course they didn't really understand what I was doing with it, so that's probably what caused the whole mess in the first place.

Dr. Maravilla: Why were you at the location, then?

PoI-0171: To get the canvas back, duh. Me and Miguel were all set to sneak into the exhibition, had it all planned, then we see a guy running and screaming with a flaming turtle shell on his head like a helmet, and that's when everything went to hell.

Dr. Maravilla: The explosion?

PoI-0171: Yep. Hey, I dunno if you're allowed to tell me or if you know, but did you guys get ahold of Miguel too?

Dr. Maravilla: We only apprehended you and two AWCY members, but in the chaos a lot of people escaped. Let's talk about something else.

PoI-0171: Fine.

Dr. Maravilla: Tell me about "Dream a Better Dream".

PoI-0171: Oh, you've got that one in here too?

Dr. Maravilla: Yes.

PoI-0171: Oh man, that's one of my favorites. Want me to tell you the secret, hidden meaning?

Dr. Maravilla: Actually, yeah, please do. I'm really curious now. What do the dinosaur and dragon symbolize?

PoI-0171: First, I wanna know what you think.

Dr. Maravilla: Me, personally? I'm not really an art crit person. I don't see all that deep stuff.

PoI-0171: Precisely. Just tell me what you saw.

Dr. Maravilla: It's just really cool shit.

PoI-0171: Exactly! You… you're the kind of person who gets it!

Dr. Maravilla: You didn't mean for there to be any deeper meaning?

PoI-0171: No no, there is meaning. Here, let me explain.

Dr. Maravilla: I'm all ears.

PoI-0171: In art class, they said that the key to good art was "what emotion do you want the audience to experience?" (PoI-0171 makes quote signs with his fingers.)

Dr. Maravilla: Yeah, I've heard that before.

PoI-0171: Well, for this one, it's really simple. The emotion I wanted to inspire with this painting is exactly what you said: "Cool!" Nothing more, nothing less.

Dr. Maravilla: (chuckles) Well, you definitely succeeded. But please, explain the anomalous properties.

PoI-0171: Oh, yeah, those. That was fun. Heard a bunch of those stuffy critics at the gallery were, ah, affected. Must've been hilarious.

Dr. Maravilla: I don't think they saw it that way.

PoI-0171: Come on, they all probably grabbed some Tums or Pepto or something on the limo ride home, God knows there's so many pharmacies up and down the Strip. They're all fine now, I promise.

Dr. Maravilla: So tell me why you put the effect in.

PoI-0171: I mean, yeah, there's issues in the world. Bad stuff happening everywhere you look. But the world isn't all bad. The sky isn't falling, no matter what the news might say.

Dr. Maravilla: (takes a sip of water)

PoI-0171: But that negativity shit doesn't need to be in your art! Me? I see art as an escape. A way to look at better worlds, at brighter days. Art is infinite. Why chain it down?

Dr. Maravilla: Is this why you paint?

PoI-0171: This is why I paint. I want to inspire a sense of wonder. A breath of fresh air.

Dr. Maravilla: Hence the dinosaur and dragon?

PoI-0171: I thought, "what would ten-year-old me think was the coolest thing ever?" and then painted exactly that.

Dr. Maravilla: I mean, I agree. If it weren't anomalous, I'd hang it on my office wall.

PoI-0171: Aw, thanks man.

Dr. Maravilla: But please, go on.

PoI-0171: People who get affected, it's cause they've lost their inner child. They can't see just the top layer of things, they gotta inject their views into everything. Sucks the fun out of it.

Dr. Maravilla: I agree, actually.

PoI-0171: Yeah? You're one of the few I've seen. It's why they wouldn't let me into Are We Cool Yet years back. Too obsessed with 'sending a message'. Like they're the Joker or something. But not everything has to send a message, right? Sometimes we just need something simple, something cool for the sake of cool.

Dr. Maravilla: Explain the part where it goes in your dreams.

PoI-0171: You saw them, right?

Dr. Maravilla: What?

PoI-0171: You saw the painting and dreamt of them, didn't you?

Dr. Maravilla: I did, yes.

PoI-0171: And? What did they tell you?

Dr. Maravilla: (sighs) The dinosaur told me she was proud of me, told me to keep following my dreams. She told me what I was doing was worth it. She told me that yeah, I'm making a difference, and don't ever forget that.

PoI-0171: And the dragon?

Dr. Maravilla: He told me not to worry. He said that what happened to my dad wasn't my fault. He said…

PoI-0171: It's OK, Will. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Don't be afraid to look at the painting again, if they let you.

Dr. Maravilla: Thanks, man. Tell me why the dreams happen in the first place.

PoI-0171: You'd have to ask the beings themselves. I don't know where these two came from, but they've got minds of their own.

Dr. Maravilla: You didn't create the entities?

PoI-0171: Sort of. I put them there, but I don't control what they say. Everyone hears what they need to hear, they tell me.

Dr. Maravilla: Then how do-

PoI-0171: It's more of a, how do I put this. As I made the painting, they were already there, I just helped to give them a form.

Dr. Maravilla: When did they appear in your dreams?

PoI-0171: They only showed up in my dreams once, the night before I finished the painting. I can't remember any details, but there's one line they said together that's burned into my brain. (PoI-0171 takes a deep breath.) "Our eyes and yours look upon the same stars. We could take your hand, and others', if you would just reach up once more, like you used to."

Dr. Maravilla: Wow.

PoI-0171: I know, right?

Dr. Maravilla: But what does it mean?

PoI-0171: Hell if I know. (PoI-0171 laughs.)

Dr. Maravilla: It's nice, though.

PoI-0171: Yeah. It was nice catching up, Will. Take care of the painting for me.

Dr. Maravilla: Will do. We'll be sending you back to interrogation shortly. I'll vouch for you, of course, do you agree to cooperate?

PoI-0171: Whatever. I don't suppose you'd give me back the charred canvas if you ever found it, right?

Dr. Maravilla: You know how it is here.

PoI-0171: I'm messing with you, dude.

Dr. Maravilla: It was good to see you again, Guillermo.

PoI-0171: You too, Will. Any last questions?

Dr. Maravilla: One last thing.

PoI-0171: Shoot.

Dr. Maravilla: The composition of the painting. Those specific dyes have never been synthesized or described before. How the hell did you do that?

PoI-0171: I'd think you of all people would realize that chemistry is as much art as it is science. Stay cool, Will.

<End Log>

Closing Statement: Further investigation of the scene and interrogation of the captured AWCY members proved PoI-0171 innocent in the aforementioned incident. However, PoI-0171 managed to escape Foundation custody through unknown means shortly after interrogations were concluded. His current whereabouts are unknown.