Bashir: Assuming you're not a spy...
Garak: Assuming.
Bashir: Then maybe you're an outcast.
Garak: Or maybe I'm an outcast spy.
Bashir: How could you be both?
Garak: I never said I was either.
Garak: Assuming.
Bashir: Then maybe you're an outcast.
Garak: Or maybe I'm an outcast spy.
Bashir: How could you be both?
Garak: I never said I was either.
— Star Trek: Deep Space Nine note
Don Draper: When asked about your past, give vague, open-ended answers.
[woman enters]
Woman: So, Don... tell me about your family. Any brothers and sisters?
Don Draper: There was a man... with bright... shiny shoes. I saw him dancing... until the accident.
Woman: Oh, how mysterious!
[woman enters]
Woman: So, Don... tell me about your family. Any brothers and sisters?
Don Draper: There was a man... with bright... shiny shoes. I saw him dancing... until the accident.
Woman: Oh, how mysterious!
Roger Sterling: So Don, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?
Don Draper: I would, but it'd ruin the first half of my novel.
Don Draper: I would, but it'd ruin the first half of my novel.
— Mad Men, the actual show this time.
Renault: I've often speculated why you don't return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Did you run off with a Senator's wife? I like to think that you killed a man. It's the romantic in me.
Rick: It's a combination of all three.
Renault: And what in Heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.
Rick: It's a combination of all three.
Renault: And what in Heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.
You are being deliberately obscure as a substitute for having a personality.
— Bonnie McFarlane, Red Dead Redemption
The instructor was somebody named Whitlaw. Nobody knew much about him. It was his first semester here. We'd heard some rumors though — that he'd once punched a kid for mouthing off and broken his jaw. That he couldn't be fired. That he'd seen active duty in Pakistan, and still had the ears of the men and women he'd killed. That he was still involved in some super-secret operation and this teaching job was just a cover. And so on.
The first time I saw him, I believed it all.
The first time I saw him, I believed it all.
As with the year prior there were live interviews. It had been a massive hit the first time and the crowd wanted more, especially since nobles Coin and Cash [from District One] would be present. But this time there was a bigger draw to the interviews.
Where had the amnesiac girl c[o]me from?
Bets were made all across the board as to her origin... and no money was lost nor won as the answer was never able to be worked out. It was truly a mystery for the ages. Hunger Games historians would be known to occasionally check into therapy, driven mad by the unsolvable mystery of this girl who just turned up one day.
Where had the amnesiac girl c[o]me from?
Bets were made all across the board as to her origin... and no money was lost nor won as the answer was never able to be worked out. It was truly a mystery for the ages. Hunger Games historians would be known to occasionally check into therapy, driven mad by the unsolvable mystery of this girl who just turned up one day.
—The narration on Fir Buzz, Cheating Death: Those That Lived
Oddly, there's no information on file about your past life. Clerical oversight? Deletion by some powerful unknown faction? Or was there just nothing of note to mention? Whatever the reason, your past is known only to you. What's important is the here and now, and the path you're about to forge.
— {FILE NOT FOUND} background description, Starfield
"Never forget the following: Hollywood heroes must have a mystery."
