Writing Ges is fascinating in a trainwrecky kind of way. I kind of like writing him, but not for long stretches - every time I write him I think 'not doing that again' but then I come back again for another try. And - well, broken vs monster is often a lot to do with how closely you're looking.

A little typo in the first sentence: 'lass oxygen'.

As for Simon during this period - oh yes, a privileged view of everything that happens, absolute access - but no ability to do anything about it. Awful for him, neat to write about :-).