A casual stroll.

Out on the sidewalk, I caught up with Veronica. I decided to test the waters with my new theory.

"So, Veronica, are you talking to yourself right now?"

"Yes," she said brusquely. "I'm pretty freaked out. I don't normally talk to myself like this."

"You're talking through Jason, though, right?" I wanted to see where this would lead.

"Yeah..." she said cautiously.

"Ok, even though you're talking to yourself, you should think about a hypothetical situation." Here goes nothing. "Imagine that Jason had his own will and everything he did was his decision, not yours."

"That's impossible," she replied instantly. "How would that even work?"

"What if you only thought you were controlling him?"

She rubbed her temples. "Look, I can't- I don't..." she stopped walking for a few seconds and grimaced in pain. "No, that's- no."

I tried a different tack. "It was weird how everyone was acting like they spilled the coffee."

"It was..." she said thoughtfully.

"And the way that waitress acted like she was fondling you?"

"It's almost like..." I waited as she struggled to the conclusion. "Oh my God! People are acting like everything you do is something they did!"

Thank God she finally got it. "See? This is what I've been trying to explain! Everyone thinks they're controlling me!"

Her eyes were wide. "Holy shit!"

I embraced her, glad to finally have someone in my corner. She hugged me back, then stepped away. "But," she said slowly, "it only seems to happen when I act through Jason."