Hal photosynthesizing

quote

Hal made his stomach bulge up and patted it, still looking at the ceiling. ‘The beast has killed and gorged and now lies in the shade of the Baobob tree.’

Context

Pemulis's head replaces Troeltsch's and asks if Hal has eaten; Hal, still ceiling-locked, answers in lion-of-the-veldt shtick — performance of okay-ness as his default channel, banter that lets him not move and not eat and still pass the welfare check. ("Baobob" as written.)

Quoted from

Scene 110: hal photosynthesizingquote spans into an adjacent scene's pages
Scene 111: lenz cult lore concavityquote spans into an adjacent scene's pages

In anthology

Depression and Anhedoniatexture