the stone that raises no ripple · S1
The kid is so shut down talking to him is like throwing a stone in a pond.
Context
Orin's clinical read of his little brother, and it is the whole Hal problem in one image: address Hal and the words go in without a ring, a stone dropped in a pond that doesn't so much as ripple. The second line is the deeper cut — the shut-down is so complete that Hal has no access even to the fact of it, sealed so thoroughly he can't receive the news that he can't be reached.