Origins

His old days in New York hold the amusement parks of Coney Island, and old acquaintances who were not yet frightening when he was small. Speak of Coney Island and he grows wistful; run into the Doorman and he will remark that back then the man seemed a lot less creepy.

“I used to love going to Coney…”

“我以前很喜欢去科尼岛…”TL

“You seemed a lot less creepy when I was a kid.”

“我小时候，你看起来可没这么吓人。”TL

He went to Blackmore Academy. To Apollo he said it feels like a lifetime ago, and when asked whether he missed it, he answered only: parts of it, yes. Yet another time he said he doesn’t miss the school at all. He says, too, that as a child he used to read about Grey Talon, that he idolized Kelvin, and that he used to be a big fan of Paradox.

“Parts of it, yes.”

“有些部分吧，是的。”TL

On his eighteenth birthday he was shot, and then left for dead by his parents. He tells it afterward like a grim joke: as he puts it, his father’s gift for his eighteenth birthday was a bullet to the chest, and today is his chance to say “thank you.”

Ever since, he has not known who is trying to keep him from taking over the family business; in a place as avarice-fueled as Fairfax Industries, it could be anyone. He took the name Pocket, both to protect himself and to forge an identity of his own, apart from his parents. He will use his family’s name, he says, only when he is no longer ashamed of it. To Mina he put it bluntly: my father tried to kill me.

“I'll use my family's name when I'm no longer ashamed of it.”

“等我不再为家族的名字感到羞耻的时候，我会用它的。”TL

As for whose finger was on the trigger, Calico has owned up to it to his face. He accused her of trying to kill him: a quarter inch to the right, he said, and that bullet would have been square in his heart. She answered that she shot him, she didn’t try to kill him — he was just that lucky. When he crossed paths with her in battle again, all he offered was a calm: “I was wondering when I’d see you again.”

“I shot you, I didn't try to kill you.”

“我是开枪打你，可没想杀你。”TL

In his years of hiding he was not alone. Mo & Krill, a moleman and his spokesman, shared a home with him. When Seven laid that chapter bare, he did not deny it; he said only that it was a good life. Celeste says so too — he had it good with Mo and Krill — and she warned him that once he left, everything would change.

“No. It was a good life.”

“不。那是段美好的生活。”TL

The suitcase is the other half of how he survived. When panic takes him he hides inside it — this, he says, is how he stayed alive all these years — and speaking of it he even sounds a little proud: it’s more comfortable than it looks. Yet he says, too, that this was never supposed to be a weapon. Before releasing the spirits he murmurs a plea: God forgive me. The power in this case, he says, is terrifying; and these souls, he says, are angry.

“This was never supposed to be a weapon.”

“这本来不应该是武器”

“The power in this case is terrifying…”

“这个手提箱里的力量令人恐惧…”

Old Friends and Foes

Mo & Krill: As a Family

Mo & Krill will not let him face the ritual alone. When Pocket says the ritual isn’t safe, they answer that that is why they are facing it as a family. He thanks them and tells them he loves them both; they answer: we love you too.

But should they meet on opposite sides, that bond becomes a burden. He apologizes again and again: forgive me; I thought we were friends; I’m a monster. And when the pair strike Pocket down, what they say is: we protected you, Pocket, and you betrayed us. The Rat King is blunter still: the moleman’s pet human, he calls him, and a traitor.

“I thought we were friends.”

“我以为我们是朋友”

“We protected you, Pocket, and you betrayed us!”

“我们保护了你，口袋，而你却背叛了我们！”

Wraith once said that when this is over, if he is looking for work, he need only let her know; he thanked her, but said he would have other responsibilities. Another time he spoke up for the pair: don’t take it out on Mo and Krill — and added: I won’t be your pawn.

“Appreciate the offer but assuming I'm alive after this I'm going to have other responsibilities.”

“谢谢你的好意，但如果我这回还能活下来，我还有别的责任要担。”TL

Mina: The Former Fiancée

Mina was once his fiancée. She had long believed him dead, and learned only later that he had faked his death. When they met again, she said he ruined her life; he said his father tried to kill him; she mocked him for making it all about himself. He said she didn’t love him, she loved his last name. She said: I don’t know if that’s true.

She complains about him without mercy, and when he struck her down, he said: I didn’t want our reunion to be like this.

“I didn't want our reunion to be like this, Mina.”

“我不想我们的重逢变成这样，米娜。”TL

Dynamo: The Godfather

Dynamo says he is his godfather: I would have helped you. Pocket apologized, saying he wasn’t sure who he could trust. When Dynamo said his father is a complicated man, he answered: not to me. Crossing blades with Dynamo, he said: I should’ve known you’d take my father’s side.

“I'm your godfather, I would have helped you.”

“我是你教父，我本来就会帮你”

Calico: The One Who Fired

In his life, Calico’s name is bound up with that bullet. He asked her whether, when this is over, she will try to kill him again — to finish the job; she asked back why she would do that, and said: I’m not the person you need to be worried about. To her he has said: don’t worry, I’ll take care of Ava.

“To finish the job”

“把活儿干完。”TL

McGinnis: His Father’s Agent

McGinnis admits that his father sent her, and says she has no dirty conscience over what she has done at Fairfax Industries. Pocket said: you’re complicit; you’re fired. Asked whether he cared about his family, he said he didn’t know; whereupon she told him his mom’s a real bitch, and his sister takes after her. As for her fall, he says he’s not crying that Maggie’s dead — without a shred of regret.

“You're complicit, McGinnis.”

“你是同谋，麦金妮”

“I don’t know.”

“我不知道。”TL

Lady Geist: A Coat

Lady Geist eyed his coat: that jacket is a Kelsey Evans, she said, and there’s no way someone like him could afford it — so who did he rob? He did not argue with her; he said only: just leave me alone. When she fell, he said: I couldn’t let her prey on my people.

“That jacket is a Kelsey Evans. There's no way someone like you could afford it, who did you rob?”

“那件外套是凯尔西·埃文斯的。像你这样的人根本不可能买得起，你抢了谁的？”

“I couldn't let her prey on my people.”

“我不能让她捕食我的人民”

Billy, Graves and Warden: The Ones He Takes for Kindred

Billy says there ain’t no such thing as a good Fairfax; Pocket answers: I get it, I hate Fairfax Industries too — we have the same goals, it’s a shame we couldn’t work together. To Graves he said: I feel like we had a lot in common; find me when this is over, I want to help you. To Warden he said: stop living your parents’ life.

“Ain't no such thing as a good Fairfax.”

“根本不存在什么好的菲尔法克斯”

“Graves, find me when this is over: I want to help you.”

“格瑞墓，等这一切结束后来找我：我想帮你。”TL

Kid, Go Home

Many treat him as a child. Infernus says: kid, you need to stay home; Lash says: kid, go home. When Holliday asked whether he was ready, he said he’s not a kid; when she said she needed to know whether she would have to look after him, he answered that she didn’t — yet admitted it was nice to hear someone say that.

“Kid, you need to stay home.”

“孩子，你得待在家里”

“You don't. But it's nice to hear someone say that.”

“你没有。但是很高兴听到有人这么说”

Violet: The Painter Who Won’t Play Along

Violet talks to him straight. She told him that if he misses his family, it’s better to be honest about it than to pretend he doesn’t care; and she pressed him: is he risking his life to take over the family business just because he doesn’t care about his last name? Of Mo and Krill she said only that they seem nice — and then demanded to know why the hell he is doing this.

She has painted his portrait, too. In the face she drew there was some real bitterness in those features, and the longer she looked, the more she wondered who had hurt him; when her brush reached the scarf, she almost thought it was going to be too much.

“There's some real bitterness in those features.”

“这五官里透着一股真切的苦涩。”TL

Anecdotes

Hiding. He treats life on the run as a craft: I know how to live on the run; I make my own luck.

Trust. He told Haze that he stopped trusting people years ago. She said that she is a Sandman, not a Curator, and can’t report what she doesn’t know — so he took the hint. Later he even complained: why can’t she just take a bribe and leave him alone?

“I stopped trusting people years ago.”

“我多年前就不再信任别人了”

The Case. Many ask what is in the case. When Seven asked, he answered only: do you? Paradox simply asks for it outright; he keeps the case closely guarded. He suspects Raven is after the case as well, and says he couldn’t let Empress Katherine get it.

“Do you?”

“你呢？”

“I want that case, Pocket.”

“我想要那个手提箱，口袋”

“I couldn't let Empress Katherine get my case”

“我不能让凯瑟琳大帝得到我的手提箱”

The Coat. Drifter recognized his coat as a Kelsey Evans; he answered only: you know your coats. Grey Talon, for his part, mocked him as a kid wearing daddy’s jacket to work.

“You know your coats.”

“你对外套倒是很懂。”TL

New York. Counting the souls he has gathered, he sighs that New York’s expensive. Nor does he remember New York being so dangerous.

“New York's expensive.”

“纽约物价很贵”

Mothers. Bebop has a mother worth saving, and Pocket says that must be nice. Bebop offered that if he had nowhere to go after the ritual, he could come and stay; he politely declined.

The Law. He doesn’t want trouble with the law, nor any trouble with the OSIC; after bringing down Holliday, he sighed that now he is a fugitive from his father and the law.

“I don't want trouble with the OSIC, but I can't let you win.”

“我不想和OSIC惹麻烦，但我不能让你赢”

Open Questions