deLint's verdict: Hal "just never quite occurred out there" — the nonoccurrence that chills Hal

pivotal · 11 Nov YDAU, after supper

• When: 11 Nov YDAU, first thing after supper
• What: After supper Hal goes to Schtitt's room to debrief the loss to Stice; only deLint is there. Debriefing the match, deLint tells Hal he "just never quite occurred out there," having regressed figures to back up this "nonoccurrence." The word choice chills Hal to the root — an externalized naming of Hal's dawning dissociation/absence (and the dark answer to Schtitt's 9-Nov "where will you occur as a player," event 72). Hal's name is not even on the big Stice/Wayne progress chart on the floor.