Help! I'm stuck in an elevator with…
Dr. Spencer Reid
Reid performs the necessary calls for help and pushing of alarm buttons and then sits down patiently on the floor. I sit in the corner.
Reid: I'm sure someone will come soon.
Me: I'm sure they will.
A moment of silence.
Reid: Did you know there have only been two elevator brake failures in this city in the last five years?
Me: No, I didn't. That's comforting.
Reid: Yes, it is. Elevators are very safe.
Another silence.
Reid: There was a movie a few years ago that indicated that the Duke of Albany invented the elevator, but passenger lifts have been around for longer than the late 1800s.
Me: It was a joke.
Reid: What?
Me: In that movie, the Duke of Albany had a valet named Otis. The man who invented the safety brake for elevators was named Otis.
Reid: That's true. You could say he's our benefactor.
Me: He certainly is. In addition, Leopold, the Duke in that movie, was actually the son of Queen Victoria, and he died of hemophilia.
Reid: It's not often I'm in the position of asking someone how they know something.
Me: I looked him up. I was interested in the historical accuracy.
Reid: I was more interested in the scientific accuracy.
Me: Well, not every movie has Star Trek's good scientific track record.
Reid: That's true. I found the discussion of the time paradoxes to be fascinating, but it was unnecessarily sensationalist to force a time vortex to open on the Brooklyn Bridge. The odds of that happening—
Me: Well, it had to open somewhere, and it's unrealistic to expect it to open in a place that's most convenient to the characters. Anyway, it was a plot device to further the development of the main character as someone willing to go to any lengths for love. Sometimes character development is more important than statistical accuracy.
Reid: Or historical accuracy?
Me: Well…I wouldn't go that far.
We laugh. A voice startles us.
Morgan: Do you two want out of here or not?
He's standing in the open doorway with a technician.
Reid: No, not really.
Me: Would you have someone bring us some tea?
